The US may send more troops to confront the mysterious Iran threat, Pentagon reveals

The US may send more troops to confront the mysterious Iran threat, Pentagon reveals

The US may send more troops to confront the mysterious Iran threat, Pentagon reveals

Amid reports that the US could send anywhere from 5,000 to 120,000 additional troops to the Middle East to confront Iran, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan offered the first public confirmation Thursday that additional manpower might be needed.

The US may send more troops to confront the mysterious Iran threat, Pentagon reveals
The US may send more troops to confront the mysterious Iran threat, Pentagon reveals

Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday that the Department of Defense was looking at ways to “enhance force protection,” saying that this “may involve sending additional troops,” CNN reported.

Exactly how many troops could be headed that way remains unclear.

The New York Times reported a little over a week ago that the Trump administration was considering sending as many as 120,000 US troops to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran. Trumpcalled the report “fake news” the following day but said that if Iran wanted to fight, he would send “a hell of a lot more troops than that.”

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the Pentagon intended to move 5,000 troops into the Middle East to counter Iran. The Associated Press said the number could be as high as 10,000.

Shanahan dismissed these reports Thursday while declining to say how many more troops might be required. “I woke up this morning and read that we were sending 10,000 troops to the Middle East and read more recently there was 5,000,” he said, according to Voice of America, adding: “There is no 10,000, and there is no 5,000. That’s not accurate.”

Read more at Business Insider

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