The Donald Trump administration will deploy a small detachment of US troops and more missile defense batteries in Saudi Arabia, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Friday, just days after the United States blamed Iran for attacks that devastated a key facility in the oil-producing nation.
Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford characterized the move, which includes provisions of defense equipment, as “defensive in nature.” The decision came after Trump’s National Security Council huddled late Friday afternoon to discuss a range of US military options to respond to the alleged Iranian attack.
