PANews reported on March 20th, citing the Wall Street Journal, that US officials revealed the Pentagon is deploying three warships and thousands of additional Marines to the Middle East, while Trump insists he will not send US troops into Iran. Officials stated that approximately 2,200 to 2,500 Marines from the USS Boxer Amphibious Assault Group from California and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Force are en route to US Central Command, which manages all US military forces in the Middle East. This is the second large-scale deployment of Marines in the past week. Previously, the Pentagon had deployed the USS Tripoli from Japan and the 31st Marine Squadron to the region. This report comes just one day after Trump stated there were no plans to deploy US ground troops to Iran.


