Trump denies US weighing sending more troops to Mideast
US President Donald Trump on Friday denied a report
that his country was weighing sending more than 12,000 troops to the Middle
East in the face of a perceived threat from Iran.
“The story today that we are sending 12,000 troops
to Saudi Arabia is false or, to put it more accurately, Fake News!” Trump wrote
in a tweet.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the possible
deployment would include “dozens” more ships and double the number of troops
added to the US force in the region since the beginning of this year, citing
unnamed US officials.
The paper said Trump could make a decision on the
troop boost as early as this month.
The Pentagon had denied the report on Wednesday,
saying that “To be clear, the reporting is wrong. The US is not considering
sending 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East.”
A series of attacks on shipping vessels and attacks
on two Saudi oil installations in September that were blamed on Iran have led
to increased tensions in the region. The US has already ramped up its military
presence in the Gulf and tightened economic sanction on Tehran, further
elevating tensions across the region.
