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Washington Post: U.S. sends thousands more troops to Mideast as Trump seeks to squeeze Iran

15 April 2026 13:41 (UTC +04:00)

The Pentagon is sending thousands of additional troops into the Middle East in the coming days, as the Trump administration attempts to pressure Iran into a deal that could end the weeks-long conflict there while considering the possibility of additional strikes or ground operations if a fragile ceasefire does not hold, U.S. officials said, Washington Post reports.

The forces moving into the region include about 6,000 troops aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and several warships escorting it, said current and former officials, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military movements. About 4,200 others with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and its embarked Marine Corps task force, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, are expected to arrive near the end of the month.

The infusion of firepower appears likely to coalesce with warships already in the Middle East just as the two-week ceasefire is set to expire April 22. The troops will join the estimated 50,000 personnel that the Pentagon has said are involved in operations countering Iran.

President Donald Trump, in a bid to squeeze Tehran economically, on Sunday announced a blockade of maritime traffic leaving and arriving at Iranian ports. He is attempting to press the Iranian regime into reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passage for the shipment of Middle Eastern oil transiting the Persian Gulf, and end its nuclear program in negotiations led by Vice President JD Vance. Talks faltered over the weekend, but the president has said that they could resume later this week, and told Fox Business that he viewed the war as “very close” to being over.

The arrival of additional American warships will put even greater pressure on Iran and provide Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, and other senior military leaders with more options should negotiations fail, said James Foggo, a retired Navy admiral and dean at the Center for Maritime Strategy in Northern Virginia.

“The more tools you have got in your kit, the more diversity of options that you have,” Foggo said, calling the injection of additional forces “a reserve capacity, in the event that things go south.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, asked about the expanding military presence, said in a statement that Trump “has wisely kept all options on the table in the event that the Iranians will not forgo their nuclear ambitions and make a deal that is acceptable to the United States.” Trump, Vance and U.S. negotiators have “made the U.S. redlines very clear,” she said, predicting that Iran’s “desperation for a deal will only increase” with the blockade in effect.