‘They will be hit very hard’: Trump sends 9,000 troops to Mideast after warning Iran of strikes
The U.S. military is sending about 9,000 troops aboard a group of ships to the Middle East, a U.S. official said Thursday. The increased US military presence comes as President Donald Trump again warned that new strikes against Iran could be on the horizon.
The troop move, which includes a third aircraft carrier, underscores the rapidly changing dynamics of Trump’s war against Iran as he considers his next move, with the U.S. midterm elections approaching and new signs that the nature of the conflict could become more complex.
Trump threatened that an escalation after the midterm elections – despite his initial promises to Americans of a campaign that would last only a few weeks – remained a viable option. Further complicating matters, Trump told reporters Thursday that early indications suggest Iran is linked to the FlyDubai co-pilot who stabbed his captain and attempted to crash a flight to Israel on Wednesday.
During an exchange with reporters at the White House, Trump brought up the connection when a reporter asked him if there were any ties between the pilot behind the attack and Tehran.
“I would say the answer, from what I’m hearing, is ‘yes,’ but we’re working on it right now,” Trump said, without elaborating.
Trump added that if the Iran link was made, the United States would retaliate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday that investigators believed the FlyDubai suspect had undergone “Islamist and radical indoctrination,” but did not provide further details.
“Oh, they’ll be hit really hard, don’t worry,” Trump said. “Just ask them. They know what happened. They will be hit very hard.”
Thousands of US sailors and Marines head to the Middle East
Meanwhile, the group of ships currently en route to the Middle East together carry more than 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines.
It includes the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, recently deployed with the cruiser USS Chosin, and the USS Makin Island Amphibious Readiness Group, which includes the amphibious landing ships USS John P. Murtha and USS Anchorage.
That could mean three carriers would be in the region as early as late October, according to the U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
Given the personnel already in place in the Middle East, the move would increase the U.S. naval presence to an unusually high number of more than 20,000 sailors and Marines as well as hundreds of aircraft. The Navy previously had three carrier strike groups in the Middle East in April, for the first time since 2003.
The aircraft carriers USS George HW Bush and USS George Washington are now in the region, along with the USS Boxer Amphibious Readiness Group. The Washington is usually deployed to the Pacific Ocean, but it was moved to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose arduous deployment required the crew to remain at sea for more than 260 consecutive days.
Trump explains why he rejected Iran’s latest truce proposal
Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday, also raised the prospect of further strikes, saying it was “possible” he would step up bombing in Iran after the Nov. 3 U.S. election.
When asked, Trump said he could not provide further details about his strategy.
“I can’t tell you that because look, you know, you ask, where are you going to bomb?” » Trump said.
He said in Monday’s interview that he rejected Iran’s latest ceasefire proposal because “things I wouldn’t have approved of a year ago, I wouldn’t have today.”
Trump cited as an example an offer by Iran to “open” the Strait of Hormuz, the main energy transportation corridor, but said the overall proposal was “not good enough.”
The war shows signs of complexity
Asked whether the increasingly unpopular war would threaten the Republican Party’s chances in November, Trump initially replied: “It’s possible.” But then he added: “That should help, because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.” »
The president said “100 percent of the people” oppose Iran having nuclear attack capabilities “including around the world.”
“So when you put it that way, it would help,” Trump added. “If you don’t say that, it might hurt.”
However, there are also growing concerns that Tehran may turn to asymmetric tactics following the FlyDubai attack and another suspicious incident in the UK.
Officials say Iran may seek to change strategy just as the United States is becoming more successful in loosening Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz and funneling oil from its Gulf allies to market, while a navy blockade halts Iran’s own oil exports.
British authorities announced Thursday the arrest of a British and Iranian national suspected of planning a terrorist attack following a security incident at a US military air base in England that British authorities linked to Tehran.
The arrest of the 27-year-old in central London comes after British authorities arrested five men, all British nationals in their 20s and from London, in the early hours of Sunday on suspicion of explosives and terrorist offenses near RAF Fairford air base.
The base was used by American bombers to strike Iran. The suspects have since been released on bail.
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Madhani reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
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