The Trump administration is considering whether to deploy a combat team from the 82nd Airborne Division’s quick reaction team, as questions grow about whether President Donald Trump will approve a ground operation in Iran.
No final orders have been issued to the airborne’s Immediate Response Force, a brigade of about 3,000 soldiers, according to the New York Times. The soldiers train to parachute into hostile territory to secure airfields and land, and are meant to be deployable anywhere in the world within 24 hours.
Thousands of Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Okinawa, Japan, and elements of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, are also on their way to the Middle East.
The incoming troops could be involved in a number of different operations in the war in Iran, though it’s unclear what the president will decide. Trump could order a mission that would seek to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force, seize Iran’s strategic islands like Kharg Island, or launch a mission to capture the regime’s highly enriched uranium.
The Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not respond to a request for comment. Trump was not asked about the possible deployment during an Oval Office event on Tuesday, though War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military is keeping “our hand on that throttle.”
Since the war began, Iran has largely shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil and gas, leading to significant increases in energy prices. Even though the U.S. military has significantly degraded Iran’s navy, air force, and defense industrial base, Iran has still been able to shut down shipping in the strait.
Last weekend, the president threatened to target Iranian power plants if it did not allow ships to restart transit through the strait, to which Iranian leaders threatened to target energy infrastructure throughout the region.
Trump subsequently announced the U.S. would hold off on those specific strikes because the two sides had begun holding indirect conversations about possible de-escalation, which Iranian officials have denied.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, are leading the U.S. delegation, Trump announced on Tuesday.
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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered to host negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
It’s unclear how the deployments of additional U.S. troops could play into the diplomatic overtures.
