The United States is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Mideast in the volatile aftermath of the killing of an Iranian general in a strike ordered by President Donald Trump.
Defense officials said the troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
They are in addition to about 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne who deployed to Kuwait earlier this week after the storming of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters.
The reinforcements took shape as Trump gave his first comments on the strike.
He said he ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani because he was “plotting to kill” many Americans.
Iran has vowed “harsh retaliation” in response to the airstrike.
Gen. Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s interventions across the Middle East and the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force.
His killing marks a major escalation in the standoff between Washington and Iran.
Iran’s supreme leader warned that a “harsh retaliation is waiting” for the U.S. The killing and Iran’s response could ignite a region-wide conflict.
The U.S. ordered its citizens to leave Iraq and closed the embassy in Baghdad.
