About 3,000 troops will deploy to the Middle East in response to elevated tensions between the United States and Iran.

The deployments follow several weeks of escalating violence between the U.S. and Iranian-backed militants in the region, including the death of an American contractor and an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. In the wake of the embassy attack, President Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.