Pentagon: US could send 10,000 more troops to Middle East to counter 'Iran threat'
The move comes as a German diplomat heads to Tehran to try to save the rapidly unravelling nuclear deal signed in 2015.
Thursday 23 May 2019 16:30, UK
The Pentagon is preparing to send as many as 10,000 more troops to the Middle East as tensions with Iran continue to rise, according to reports.
The move is not in response to any new threat but is aimed at strengthening security in the region, according to officials quoted by The Associated Press.
A final decision has not been made on the deployment, which could include additional weapons and ships.
Any increase in US troop numbers would contrast sharply with US President Donald Trump's previous stated aim of reducing America's military presence overseas.
Air Force Colonel Patrick Ryder, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: "As a matter of long-standing policy, we are not going to discuss or speculate on potential or alleged future operations or plans."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the situation was being evaluated "every day", telling Fox And Friends: "We're evaluating the risks, making sure that we have it right."
Meanwhile, the German foreign ministry's political director Jens Ploetner headed for Tehran on Thursday for talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in an effort to stop the nuclear deal from falling apart.
The deal, signed under the Obama administration in 2015, had offered economic incentives in exchange for Iran curtailing its nuclear production.
But Mr Trump pulled the US out of the deal last year and has reimposed sanctions, hurting Iran's struggling economy.
Iran - which has obeyed the deal's conditions according to a February report by the International Atomic Energy Agency - gave the remaining signatories Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia two months to develop a plan to shield it from the effect of sanctions.
The German foreign ministry said in an email: "The situation in the Persian Gulf and the region, and the situation surrounding the Vienna nuclear agreement, is extremely serious.
"There is a real risk of escalation - including due to misunderstandings or an incident. In this situation, dialogue is very important."
On Monday, Iran said it had increased its production capacity of low-enriched uranium but that it would not be enriched beyond the 3.67% limit in the nuclear deal. This would mean it can be used for power but not for an atomic weapon.
Earlier this month, the US accelerated the deployment of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East and sent four B52 bombers to the region.
Non-essential US personnel have been told to leave Iran's neighbour Iraq, due to what the Trump administration described as threats from Iranian-backed militias.