Above: currently on deployment in the region, the USS Gerald R. Ford strike Group<\/p>\n
The U.S. is surging forces, medics and weaponry to the Middle East to give President Trump more muscular military options as he considers expanding the conflict against Iran, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
In the past week, special-operations forces have deployed to the region from their U.S. bases, according to flight-tracking data and U.S. officials. Squadrons of jet fighters<\/a> have been staged across the Middle East, and bomber aircraft at bases in the U.S. and U.K. are on high alert to ramp up operations, according to one of the officials.<\/p>\n Additionally, more than 150 medics have arrived at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany in recent days, another official said. The hospital is the primary location for treating troops injured in combat in the Middle East.<\/p>\n The preparations are the latest indication that Trump is considering escalating the conflict after three American soldiers were killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan over the weekend. A fourth servicemember was killed in Iraq during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.<\/p>\n U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday that it had launched a 12th consecutive day of strikes against targets in Iran. \u201cThe mission will continue to further degrade Iran\u2019s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,\u201d it said in a statement posted on X.<\/p>\n Retired Gen. Joseph Votel, the former commander of Centcom and of U.S. Special Operations Command, said the surge itself doesn\u2019t necessarily mean major military operations are inevitable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big idea here is to give the president and the secretary [of defense] the most flexibility, and the force the most options to present to them,\u201d Votel said.<\/p>\n A spokesman for the Pentagon referred questions about the troop movements to U.S. Central Command, which declined to discuss details, citing operational security. In a statement, the White House said Trump \u201calways has all options at his disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n The troop surge could also be designed to give Trump more capacity to target Yemen\u2019s Houthi militants, who threatened this week to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia. The president said Tuesday that he would \u201ctake care of things\u201d if the Houthis targeted ships in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n Trump launched an airstrike campaign against the Houthis last year, which ended after nearly two months in a simple ceasefire, leaving the Houthis battered but not broken. They continued to target some ships but have mostly stayed on the sidelines since the Iran war began in February. They\u00a0lashed out last week at Saudi Arabia, which they accused of bombing an airstrip to prevent an Iranian plane from landing at San\u2019a airport.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, a tanker sailing through the Red Sea off the coast of southern Saudi Arabia was struck by an unknown projectile, sparking a fire, according to U.K. Maritime Trade Operations. The Houthis\u2019 military spokesman said in a televised statement that the group had targeted two Saudi oil tankers with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.<\/p>\n London Stock Exchange Group data indicates that both ships are Saudi-flagged and loaded crude and oil products a few days ago from Yanbu port, which Saudi Arabia has been using to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. They were continuing to head south toward Bab al-Mandeb, a narrow chokepoint between Yemen and Djibouti.<\/p>\n The preparations come despite concerns in Washington about America\u2019s endgame<\/a> and the mounting cost of the war<\/a>, which has reached more than $37 billion, according to congressional testimony <\/a>this week from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Returning to all-out war also risks further draining U.S. munitions<\/a> and exacerbating disruptions to global oil supplies<\/a>, as Iran continues to attack commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and as the Iran-backed Houthis threaten shipping in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the GOP-controlled House voted 216-214 to pass a $95 billion budget framework that includes an extra $73 billion in military and intelligence funding, a first step in approving money sought by the White House. Some Republicans have aired concerns that voting for additional funds would be interpreted as approval from Congress for the war itself. Others have sought more information on the war\u2019s costs and the Pentagon\u2019s strategy on how to bring the fighting to an end.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to pay the troops. I do not want to support the war,\u201d said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), who voted for the measure.<\/p>\n The House also approved, 216-212, its version of the National Defense Authorization Act annual policy bill with little support from Democrats, who say Trump has illegally bypassed Congress in waging the Iran war. The NDAA typically draws broad bipartisan support.<\/p>\n Trump and Hegseth have defended the war, now in its fifth month, as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Trump on Wednesday threatened to bomb a bridge or power plant each time Tehran attacks a vessel traveling through the strategic waterway. Current and former military officials caution it isn\u2019t lawful to strike an adversary\u2019s infrastructure for political purposes<\/a>, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said in a social-media post that \u201cany aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. in recent days has deployed cargo flights from U.S. bases that house special-operations forces to the Middle East, the officials said. Special-operations forces were used for combat search-and-rescue operations during the first phase of the war, known as Epic Fury, though they are capable of carrying out a range of missions.<\/p>\n Long-range bombers are also preparing for major combat operations, according to some of the officials. That includes B-1 bombers currently staged in the U.K.<\/p>\n The military also has sent aerial tankers, F-16 jet fighters from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany and F-35s from the air base at Lakenheath, England, to the region, the Journal previously reported. Jordan and Israel are widely seen as the likely hosts for these aircraft.<\/p>\n Trump has ramped up his rhetoric against Iran, threatening to punish the country for the deaths of Americans and saying on Tuesday that he might order an assault on Pickaxe Mountain, where Iran is suspected to have buried nuclear-enrichment centrifuges.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president has many options available to him if they continue to insist on not being cooperative,\u201d Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at a summit in Manila, in reference to the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n Despite a tenuous ceasefire since April, the human toll of the conflict is rising. Overall, 18 U.S. troops <\/a>have been killed during the conflict from enemy fire and accidents, while hundreds more have been wounded.<\/p>\n Iran also has fired on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil passed before the war.<\/p>\n The Iranian regime has shown no signs of backing down, and its leaders have pledged to continue attacking U.S. forces and American partners in the Gulf.<\/p>\n In recent weeks, the U.S. military has primarily focused its attacks on targets that degrade Iran\u2019s ability to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The latest American strikes included attacks on Iranian military-operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities and military-logistics infrastructure, according to U.S. Central Command. The U.S. has also targeted bridges<\/a> that it says Iran\u2019s military uses to resupply a naval base on the strait.<\/p>\n