WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is rapidly reinforcing its presence across the Middle East, sending in elite troops, fighter jets and combat medical teams while also deploying a B-1 bomber to hit Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets for the first time in the current conflict, as President Trump considers whether to expand the war against Iran.
US special operations forces have been moved into the region, and fighter squadrons have been repositioned at bases across the Middle East following the deaths of four American service members over the past week, according to flight-tracking data.
More than 150 medical personnel have also been dispatched to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the US military’s main hospital for troops wounded in the Middle East, as officials prepare for the possibility of further casualties, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The escalation also included the use of a B-1 long-range bomber on Tuesday, US officials told Axios. The mission marked the first time the aircraft has been used by the US since fighting with Iran resumed 12 days ago, a move the outlet described as a significant intensification of the conflict.
The buildup comes as Iranian missiles and drones appear to be striking with increasingly lethal accuracy.
On Friday, a missile hit prefabricated housing used by American troops, killing three service members as they lived and slept inside. In that wave of attacks, three ballistic missiles penetrated US air defenses at the base, underscoring the mounting difficulty of protecting the roughly 50,000 American troops deployed throughout the region.
