![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/iran-iraq.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAt a meeting of President Trump\u2019s top national security aides last Thursday, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated military plan that envisions sending as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons, administration officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n The revisions were ordered by hard-liners led by John R. Bolton, Mr. Trump\u2019s national security adviser. They do not call for a land invasion of Iran, which would require vastly more troops, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n The development reflects the influence of Mr. Bolton, one of the administration\u2019s most virulent Iran hawks, whose push for confrontation with Tehran<\/a><\/strong><\/span> was ignored more than a decade ago by President George W. Bush.<\/span><\/p>\n It is highly uncertain whether Mr. Trump, who has sought to disentangle the United States from Afghanistan and Syria, ultimately would send so many American forces back to the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n It is also unclear whether the president has been briefed on the number of troops or other details in the plans. On Monday, asked about if he was seeking regime change in Iran, Mr. Trump said: \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens with Iran. If they do anything, it would be a very bad mistake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n There are sharp divisions in the administration over how to respond to Iran at a time when tensions are rising about Iran\u2019s nuclear policy and its intentions in the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n Some senior American officials said the plans, even at a very preliminary stage, show how dangerous the threat from Iran has become. Others, who are urging a diplomatic resolution to the current tensions, said it amounts to a scare tactic to warn Iran against new aggressions.<\/span><\/p>\n European allies who met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said that they worry that tensions between Washington and Tehran could boil over, possibly inadvertently.<\/span><\/p>\n More than a half-dozen American national security officials who have been briefed on details of the updated plans agreed to discuss them with The New York Times on the condition of anonymity. Spokesmen for Mr. Shanahan and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to comment.<\/span><\/p>\n The size of the force involved has shocked some who have been briefed on them. The 120,000 troops would approach the size of the American force that invaded Iraq in 2003.<\/span><\/p>\n Deploying such a robust air, land and naval force would give Tehran more targets to strike, and potentially more reason to do so, risking entangling the United States in a drawn out conflict. It also would reverse years of retrenching by the American military in the Middle East that began with President Barack Obama\u2019s withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n But two of the American national security officials said Mr. Trump\u2019s announced drawdown in December of American forces in Syria<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, and the diminished naval presence in the region, appear to have emboldened some leaders in Tehran and convinced the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that the United States has no appetite for a fight with Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n Several oil tankers were reportedly attacked or sabotaged<\/strong><\/span><\/a> off the coast of the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, raising fears that shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf could become flash points. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a bad problem for Iran if something happens,\u201d Mr. Trump said on Monday, asked about the episode.<\/span><\/p>\n Emirati officials are investigating the apparent sabotage, and American officials suspect that Iran was involved. Several officials cautioned, however, that there is not yet any definitive evidence linking Iran or its proxies to the reported attacks. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman called it a \u201cregretful incident,\u201d according to a state news agency.<\/span><\/p>\n In Brussels, Mr. Pompeo met with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, cosignatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, as well as with the European Union\u2019s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini. He did not speak to the media, but the European officials said they had urged restraint upon Washington, fearing accidental escalation that could lead to conflict with Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident, with an escalation that is unintended really on either side,\u201d said Jeremy Hunt, the British foreign secretary.<\/span><\/p>\n The Iranian government has not threatened violence recently, but last week, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would walk away from parts of the 2015 nuclear deal<\/strong><\/span><\/a> it reached with world powers. Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement a year ago, but European nations have urged Iran to stick with the deal and ignore Mr. Trump\u2019s provocations.<\/span><\/p>\n The high-level review of the Pentagon\u2019s plans was presented during a meeting about broader Iran policy. It was held days after what the Trump administration described, without evidence, as new intelligence indicating that Iran was mobilizing proxy groups in Iraq and Syria to attack American forces.<\/span><\/p>\n As a precaution, the Pentagon has moved an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers, a Patriot missile interceptor battery and more naval firepower to the gulf region.<\/span><\/p>\n At last week\u2019s meeting, Mr. Shanahan gave an overview of the Pentagon\u2019s planning, then turned to General Dunford to detail various force options, officials said. The uppermost option called for deploying 120,000 troops, which would take weeks or months to complete.<\/span><\/p>\n Among those attending Thursday\u2019s meeting were Mr. Shanahan; Mr. Bolton; General Dunford; Gina Haspel, the C.I.A. director; and Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe president has been clear, the United States does not seek military conflict with Iran, and he is open to talks with Iranian leadership,\u201d Garrett Marquis, a National Security Council spokesman, said Monday in an email. \u201cHowever, Iran\u2019s default option for 40 years has been violence, and we are ready to defend U.S. personnel and interests in the region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The reduction of forces in the Middle East in recent years has been propelled by a new focus on China, Russia and a so-called Great Powers competition. The most recent National Defense Strategy<\/strong><\/span><\/a> \u2014 released before Mr. Bolton joined the Trump administration \u2014 concluded that while the Middle East remains important, and Iran is a threat to American allies, the United States must do more to ensure a rising China does not upend the world order.<\/span><\/p>\n As recently as late April, an American intelligence analysis indicated that Iran had no short-term desire to provoke a conflict. But new intelligence reports, including intercepts, imagery and other information, have since indicated that Iran was building up its proxy forces\u2019 readiness to fight and was preparing them to attack American forces in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n The new intelligence reports surfaced on the afternoon of May 3, Mr. Shanahan told Congress last week. On May 5, Mr. Bolton announced the first of new deployments to the Persian Gulf, including bombers and an aircraft carrier.<\/span><\/p>\n It is not clear to American intelligence officials what changed Iran\u2019s posture. But intelligence and Defense Department officials said American sanctions have been working better than originally expected, proving far more crippling to the Iranian economy \u2014 especially after a clampdown on all oil exports<\/strong><\/span><\/a> that was announced last month.<\/span><\/p>\n