Donald Trump is weighing the deployment of 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give Washington more military options as the president seeks peace talks with Tehran.
The president has repeatedly insisted on a strategy of ‘peace through strength’ in his foreign policy while giving Iran 10 additional days before his threat to destroy their energy hubs unless Tehran reopens the Strait of Hormuz.
The additional troops would likely be sent to a US military base within striking distance of Iran’s Kharg Island. Trump has threatened to seize its energy assets.
Department of Defense officials with knowledge of the planning told The Wall Street Journal the deployment would likely include infantry and armored vehicles.
Around 5,000 Marines and several thousand paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division have already been sent to the Middle East to bolster defenses.
The troops are meant to provide Trump with leverage as his envoys negotiate a peace deal.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said that no decision about the ground troops has been made yet.
‘All announcements regarding troop deployments will come from the Department of War. As we have said, President Trump always has all military options at his disposal,’ she said.
Donald Trump is weighing the deployment of 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give Washington more military options as the president seeks peace talks with Tehran
Around 5,000 Marines and several thousand paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division have already been sent to the Middle East to bolster defenses
The Daily Mail has reached out to US Central Command for comment.
One of the possible roles for US roles could be to potentially take over Kharg Island, a key target for the US since the war began a month ago.
Also known as Forbidden Island, this speck of land 16 miles off the coast of Iran is the Islamic Republic’s main hub for oil exports.
By invading it and seizing control of its terminal, storage tanks and pipeline, the US could shut off the flow of money that supports Tehran’s economy and funds its military.
Kharg handles 90 percent of Iran’s oil output, up to 1.5million barrels a day.
The island has a deepwater tanker port, an airport and a host of military installations including the Matla ul Fajr radar station.
Despite heavily bombing the island last week, the US Air Force has so far avoided hitting its oil infrastructure.
Around 20,000 oil workers are stationed there, under the guard of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and these civilians will probably be used as human shields.
US Marines transport ordinance on the flight deck of America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli
The additional troops would likely be sent to a base near Kharg Island, Iran’s oil export hub. Trump has threatened taking over the island
The assault on Kharg could come from two directions: by sea across the Gulf from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) rather than traversing the bottleneck of the Strait of Hormuz; or by air, with forces launched from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea as well as from bases in the UAE.
Trump first announced a five-day pause on US strikes targeting Iran’s energy sector early Monday, and has since submitted a 15-point peace plan to the regime.
Tehran rejected the terms and vowed to continue fighting, sending oil prices rocketing after they had plunged at the start of the week.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that exchanges between the two countries through mediators do not mean ‘negotiations with the US.’
Trump’s considers the ground troop deployment as his diplomatic envoys work through Pakistan to negotiate an agreement to end ongoing conflict.
On Thursday, Trump announced he would hold off on bombing Iran’s energy infrastructure until at least early April after extending the deadline for Tehran to negotiate a deal by ten days.
Extending the temporary ceasefire on Iran’s energy production allows the US and Iran to continue negotiations to end the war, now in its fourth week.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed Thursday that talks conducted alongside Jared Kushner and their Iranian counterparts had been fruitful.
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‘I can report to you today that we have, along with your foreign-policy team, presented a 15-point action list that forms the framework for a peace deal,’ he said at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting.
‘This has been circulated through the Pakistani government, acting as the mediator,’ he continued. ‘This has resulted in strong and positive messaging and talks.’
The Iranian regime has ratcheted up pressure on Washington even as talks progress, publicly confirming its continued pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
The relentless US-Israeli strikes have persuaded the regime it has nothing to gain by holding back from building a bomb, sources told Reuters.
State television aired a segment earlier this month in which conservative commentator Nasser Torabi said the Iranian public demanded action: ‘We need to act in order to build a nuclear weapon. Either we build it or we acquire it.’
Iran’s state media claimed Thursday that more than a million troops have been mobilized in preparation for a potential US ground invasion to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran may have even tightened its grip on the crucial Strait of Hormuz. It may be creating something like a ‘toll booth’ for tankers to get past the narrow waterway, which typically sees a fifth of the world’s oil exit the Persian Gulf through it to customers worldwide.
The threats from Tehran come as the US military is reportedly planning a ‘final blow’ to take out the remnants of the Islamic regime, a threat that could include US ground troops in Iran in combination with a devastating bombardment.
Donald Trump (pictured center) meets with Secretary of State Marco Rubio (pictured left) and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth (pictured right)
Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins attend a cabinet meeting
‘Trump has a hand open for a deal, and the other is a fist, waiting to punch you in the f***ing face,’ a Trump aide told Axios.
The President has told members of his inner circle he is prepared to pull the trigger on a full-scale invasion if Tehran continues to rebuff his diplomatic overtures.
Despite nearly four weeks of constant bombardment and the decapitation of its government, Iran is still heavily armed and intent on war.
According to the Alma Research and Education Center, an Israeli thinktank, it could have up to 1,000 ballistic missiles in its arsenal.
Equally deadly, across this country of more than 90 million people, small-scale factories in garages and kitchens are building thousands of small and medium-sized drones, capable of carrying explosive payloads.
Over 2,000 people have been killed in the war as it heads into its second month, with over 1,200 Iranians and at least 1,000 people killed in Lebanon.
At least 17 people have died in Israel, while 13 US service members have been killed in combat and hundreds more wounded.
Trump’s decision to extend the deadline came as stocks fell sharply Thursday, and oil prices rose as doubt took over again from hope on Wall Street about a possible end to the war with Iran.
The S&P 500 slumped 1.7 percent for its worst day since January and is back on track for a fifth straight losing week.
That stretches back to before the Iran war began, and it would be the longest such losing streak in nearly four years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 469 points, or one percent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.4 percent to fall more than ten percent below its all-time high set early this year.
That’s a steep enough drop that professional investors have a name for it: a ‘correction.’
Stock markets likewise tumbled across much of Asia and Europe.
They’re the latest flip – flops for financial markets in a week that began with big hopes after President Donald Trump said productive talks had taken place about ending the war.
But Iran denied direct talks were underway and then dismissed a US proposal for a ceasefire that was delivered via Pakistan.
