Donald Trump to deploy 3,500 US troops to Middle East after Iran airstrike
The announcement came after top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed by a US airstrike ordered by Donald Trump overnight at Baghdad Airport.
Donald Trump has announced plans to deploy 3,500 additional troops to the Middle East after killing Iran’s top military general.
The troops will come from the Immediate Response Force of the 82nd Airborne Division. It was was previously placed on standby to be sent to the region of the situation called for it.
The announcement came after top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed by a US airstrike ordered by Donald Trump overnight at Baghdad Airport.
According to CNN, the new deployment of a 3,500-soldier unit have already begun. 750 troops from the same unit were sent to the region earlier this week after the US embassy was stormed in Baghdad.
The most recent deployment comes as the Iranian government issued threats of ‘harsh vengeance’ for the assassination of Soleimani, the leader of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the strike on Soleimani was carried out to disrupt an ‘imminent’ attack in the region.
According to the Pentagon, Soleimani gave the go-ahead orders for the attacks on the US Embassy days earlier.
The State Department has since urged all US citizens to leave Iraq.
Iran has vowed to avenge Soleimani’s death. He was widely regarded as the second most powerful man in Iran, and was also tipped as a future leader of the country.