The U.S. military is preparing to deploy around 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days, according to a person with knowledge of the move who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.
It’s the latest addition of American troops after U.S. officials said last week that thousands of Marines aboard several Navy ships would head to the region.
While the Marine units are trained in missions that include supporting U.S. embassies, evacuating civilians and disaster relief, the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne are trained to parachute into hostile or contested territory to secure key territory and airfields.
Also Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes battered Iran as Iranian missiles and drones struck sites across the Mideast. Lebanese militant fire into northern Israel killed a woman, medics said, in the war’s first death inside Israel from cross-border drone and missile attacks. Israel has pounded Beirut, saying it is targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.
Alluding to progress in talks with Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Iran shared an oil- and gas-related “present,” a day after telling reporters the Middle Eastern nation is eager for a deal to end the war.
Wounded US troops
290 US troops have been wounded in the Iran war. Of the total wounded to date, 255 service members have returned to duty, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.
That leaves 35 wounded and out of action, with 10 still considered seriously wounded, Hawkins said.
The total of 290 is an increase of 90 since the last update, provided March 16. Last week 20 service members were too injured to return to their posts.
Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed in combat in the war.
Iran denies talks to wind down the war
U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprising claim this week that talks with Iran were yielding great progress has only raised more confusion over a war whose goals were already unclear. The most basic question: What talks?
Iran denied any negotiations were taking place, pledging to fight “until complete victory.” Pakistan, Egypt and Gulf Arab nations are trying behind the scenes to piece together talks, but their efforts still seem preliminary. Israel is vowing to keep up its attacks.
The war appears to only be escalating. Barrages were fired into Iran, Israel and across the Mideast on Tuesday, and thousands more U.S. troops were on their way to the Gulf.
