The United States is sending nearly 3000 additional troops to the Middle East as a precaution amid rising threats to American forces in the region, US officials said on Friday.
Iran promised vengeance after a US airstrike in Baghdad on Friday killed Qassem Soleimani, Tehran's most prominent military commander and the architect of its growing influence in the Middle East.
The extra troops are in addition to about 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne who deployed to Kuwait earlier this week after the storming of the US Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters.
The dispatching of extra army personnel reflects concern about potential Iranian retaliatory action but it also runs counter to Trump's repeated push to extract the United States from Mideast conflicts.
The Pentagon said the Immediate Response Force (IRF) brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division was being deployed.
"The brigade will deploy to Kuwait as an appropriate and precautionary action in response to increased threat levels against U.S. personnel and facilities, and will assist in reconstituting the reserve," the Pentagon said in a statement.
The overnight attack on Tehran's most prominent military commander was authorised by the us president. Source: Anadolu
Since May, the United States has already dispatched about 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East.
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