The United States has deployed three warships and a group of around 2,500 Marines to the Middle East as the U.S. considers seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, U.S. officials reportedly said.
The USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, has been dispatched to the region along with a Marine Expeditionary Unit and two accompanying ships, per Reuters. Another unit of 2,200 Marines will arrive in the region this week.
“The U.S. military has accelerated the deployment of thousands of Marines and Navy personnel to the Middle East,” U.S. officials told the Jerusalem Post. The U.S. has reportedly told Israel and other countries that it could begin a ground operation to seize Kharg Island.
No final decision has been made to send troops into Iran, however, Reuters reported. The U.S. has not said what the incoming Marines’ role will be.
The U.S. is reportedly considering operations to occupy or blockade Kharg Island to force Iran to fully open the Strait of Hormuz, once it sufficiently damages Iran’s military capacity around the waterway. One official told Axios this could come in around one month.
While Iran has said it will allow ships that are not linked to the U.S. or Israel to pass through the strait, it claimed it would close the strait entirely if the U.S. followed through on a threat to destroy Iran's energy plants.
Kharg Island includes Iran’s main oil export facility and holds about 94% of the country’s oil exports.
Just 7% of Americans support sending ground troops to Iran, per a Reuters/Ipsos poll last week.
