Additional US Marines and warships are expected to be deployed to the Middle East, according to two officials who confirmed the move to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. The reinforcements will come from an amphibious ready group and its Marine expeditionary unit, with one official indicating that the group will be led by the Japan-based USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship.
The unit headed by the USS Tripoli typically consists of approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines distributed across several warships. The movement of US personnel was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which also stated that the request for reinforcements was made by US Central Command, the branch of the US military responsible for the Middle East, and was approved by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The deployment comes as President Donald Trump announced that US forces had “totally obliterated” Iranian military infrastructure on Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global oil shipping. Retaliatory Iranian strikes targeting Israel and US military bases across the Middle East have disrupted major hubs for international air travel and caused oil prices to soar.
When asked by reporters on Friday about when the US Navy would start escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump responded, “It will happen soon.” The BBC has approached the US military and the Pentagon for comment, though future troop movements are typically not confirmed publicly.
According to officials cited by the Washington Post and South Korean news outlets, the US is also relocating parts of a missile defense system installed in South Korea to the Middle East. Trump earlier stated that Iran would be hit “very hard” over the next week, adding that the war with Iran would be over when “I feel it in my bones.” Hegseth also said the US military would show “no mercy for our enemies.”
The Pentagon this week reported that it had struck 6,000 Iranian targets over two weeks of conflict, which began when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In his first public address on Thursday, Iran’s new supreme leader, 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the former leader, stated that Tehran would continue to block the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement read by a newsreader on Iranian state TV, Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to “avenge the blood” of Iranians killed in the war with the US and Israel and warned neighboring countries to stop hosting US bases.