The US is deploying thousands of Marines and additional forces to the Middle East following recent Iranian attempts to seize commercial shipping vessels. The new forces will consist of an amphibious readiness group and a marine expeditionary unit known as an ARG and MEU respectively which typically consists of three ships and approximately Marines. This latest deployment comes after the Pentagon said earlier this week that it would be sending F and F fighter jets to the region as well as the USS Thomas Hudner a guided missile destroyer. Earlier this month the US intervened to stop Iran from seizing two tankers in the Gulf of Oman including one instance in which an Iranian vessel opened fire on a tanker. In both cases a US Navy destroyer arrived on scene forcing the Iranian Navy vessel to sail away from the area. At the time recently retired Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl said the incidents had the highest attention of the Defense Department. The US began flying A attack aircraft over the Strait of Hormuz off Irans southern coast according to a senior defense official. The As were equipped with weapons capable of targeting Iranian fast attack boats and other maritime targets. The Pentagon did not specify which forces would be deployed. The th MEU which is special operations capable and the Bataan ARG both of which are based on the East Coast are currently deployed in the Atlantic. The US started flying the As in lateMarch following a series of attacks on US positions from Iranianaffiliated militias. The As are now based in the Persian Gulf and have been used to target Iranian vessels and other targets in the region. The U.S. Central Command commander said the forces would add unique capabilities to the area in order to further safeguard the free flow of international commerce and uphold the rules based international order. The forces will be based in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and are expected to be deployed until the end of the year. It is not yet known if the US will send any additional troops to the Mideast as a result of the latest deployment. The deployment is not expected to last longer than a few weeks at the current pace of deployment of the US forces in the Middle Eastern region. This is the first time the US has deployed additional forces in this way since the start of the war in Iraq in 2003. The United States has been involved in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant since the fall of 2003 when it sent in F/A-18s and F/C-17s to fight the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab terror group in Iraq. The American forces in Iraq have been deployed in support of the Iraqi government in the war against the al Qaeda-linked terror group since the beginning of the conflict. The Iranian government has denied any involvement in the attacks in Iraq, saying that the US only sent in the F/F-17 fighter jets and helicopters to protect the Iraqi people from al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
U.S. deploying Marines, additional forces to Middle East following recent Iranian attempted shipping seizures. U.S., Israel, Arab nations have been at odds for years over Iran’s nuclear program.
