U.S. Sends 9,000 Troops to Middle East as Trump Weighs Strikes

The U.S. military is sending roughly 9,000 sailors and Marines aboard ships to the Middle East, a deployment a U.S. official said could bring three American aircraft carriers to the region by late October. The movement comes as President Donald Trump says further strikes on Iran remain possible and has threatened a severe response if investigators establish an alleged Iranian connection to an attack aboard an Israel-bound flight. The ships carry more than 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines, according to the official, who spoke anonymously because the operation is sensitive. The force includes the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group. The official’s account is the basis for the reported troop total and ship movements. Two other carriers, the USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington, are already in the region, along with the USS Boxer amphibious readiness group. The deployment could bring a third carrier to the Middle East as early as the end of October, but that remains a projection, not a confirmed arrival.