On one of the holiest days on the Islamic calendar, Iran fired on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states, insisting that it can still build missiles and issuing a new threat, to deny safety to its enemies in “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide. Israel meanwhile pounded Tehran with airstrikes as Iranians marked Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
The US military is deploying three more warships and roughly 2,500 more marines to the Middle East, where there's no end to the war in sight despite three weeks of U.S. and Israeli air strikes that have decimated Iran's military and leadership. The Pentagon’s request for another $200 billion to fund the war would need congressional approval as the U.S. national debt hits a record $39 trillion.
U.S. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will stop attacking the gas field that Iranians depend on for most of their electricity at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump. Iran responded to Israel’s attack on the field by intensifying targeting of energy infrastructure in other Middle East countries, sending oil and gas prices soaring.
The death toll has risen to more than 1,300 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members in the region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.
Here is the latest:
Thousands of Marines and sailors are bound for a region at war
The news comes just days after the U.S. military redirected another group of amphibious assault ships carrying Marines from the Pacific to the Middle East.
Last week, U.S. officials also confirmed that the Japan-based USS Tripoli and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit have been ordered to the Middle East — shifting them from exercises in the vicinity of Taiwan. Earlier this week, the USS Tripoli and another amphibious assault ship, the USS New Orleans, were spotted sailing west of Malaysia on publicly available satellite imagery.
The pair of Marine Expeditionary Units will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region where the U.S. is engaged in a war with Iran. The U.S. military says it has about 50,000 troops in the region.
The US military is deploying three more warships and roughly 2,500 more marines to the Middle East, an official says
One U.S. official confirmed that the USS Boxer and two other amphibious assault ships, along with roughly 2,500 Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, are bound for the Middle East from their home port of San Diego. Two other U.S. officials confirmed that the ships were deploying, without saying where they were headed.
All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
— By Konstantin Toropin.