Washington moves paratroopers to the Middle East even as ceasefire talks gain ground
By Kehinde Adegoke | Sources: WSJ, NYT, AP
Washington: The Trump administration is playing both hands simultaneously — dangling a sweeping ceasefire blueprint before Tehran while quietly flooding the Middle East with thousands of combat-ready troops.
The White House has handed Iran a 15-point ceasefire framework, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing officials. The terms are steep: Tehran must dismantle its main nuclear sites, halt uranium enrichment, freeze its ballistic missile program, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s military response has been unambiguous. Its commanders have vowed to fight to the bitter end, flatly rejecting Trump’s claim that talks between the two nations have been “productive.”
While diplomats talk, the Pentagon is moving. Approximately 2,000 soldiers from the elite 82nd Airborne Division have been ordered to the region — a rapid-deployment force capable of putting paratroopers and heavy equipment anywhere on earth within 18 hours, The New York Times reported, citing defence officials.
They won’t be alone. Roughly 2,500 Marines from the 31st Expeditionary Unit are set to arrive in the Middle East this week, bringing the total incoming force to well above 4,500 personnel within days.
Among the options under consideration, according to officials cited in reports, is the potential seizure of Kharg Island — Iran’s critical oil export hub, through which a significant share of the country’s crude flows to global markets.
The fighting has also intensified on other fronts. Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed at least nine people and wounded dozens more, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing the country’s health ministry. At least three died, and 18 were wounded in Nabatiyeh province, six were killed and five injured in Sidon, and a further 29 were wounded in Tyre province.
The casualties are part of a mounting toll. Since Israel’s bombing campaign began on March 2, more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians have been killed and nearly 3,000 others injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
