Intel: US troop boost warning shot at Iran

Jack Detsch

Jul 18, 2019

A U.S. soldier runs at a coalition forces forward base near West Mosul, Iraq June 21, 2017, where Iraqi security forces are fighting Islamic State. REUTERS/Marius Bosch - RC1F464C5CA0 — A US soldier runs at a coalition forces forward base near West Mosul, Iraq, June 21, 2017. — REUTERS/Marius Bosch

Defense officials said Wednesday that the Pentagon plans to send 500 more troops to the Middle East in an effort to ease tensions with Iran, CNN reported.

Why it matters: The move, which will place American units in Saudi Arabia, where their presence could be controversial, is the latest effort to ease rising tensions in the Gulf that have escalated over the past two months as Iran has sought to push back against US sanctions. The Pentagon has already placed 2,000 additional troops in the region, sent F-22 fighters and B-52 bombers and extended the deployment of Patriot missile batteries in the region.