The Pentagon has approved the deployment of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) to the Middle East, bolstering US troop levels and air power as Washington intensifies its campaign against Iran alongside Israel.
The MEU being deployed will come from the Indo-Pacific, according to US officials, and will include amphibious ships and fighter jets.
An amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit, also known as an ARG/MEU, consists of about 2,500 Marines and 2,500 sailors.
The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying the Japan-based USS Tripoli and its attached Marines are en route to the region.
The Journal said the request for the additional Marines was made by US Central Command, which is responsible for US troops in the Middle East, and approved by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
The move follows the US executing a large-scale precision strike on Kharg Island, a small island off the coast of Iran – home to a major oil terminal that is considered the country’s economic lifeline.
“US forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure,” CENTCOM said.
The strike destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites, the US military said in a post on X.
The Iranian Fars news agency, citing sources on the island, reported there had been no damage to oil facilities.
Iran threatened yesterday to escalate the war raging in the Middle East by targeting any facility in the region.
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