Thousands more U.S. troops arrive in the Middle East. What to know.
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Good morning. As thousands of troops arrive in the Middle East, Trump continues to weigh diplomatic and military ways to end the conflict. Reuters walks us through it.
I think it's important to see what they're doing rather than what they're saying. And the reality is between 2,500 and 3,500 U.S. Marines have arrived in the greater Middle East region.
What recent developments have occurred with U.S. troops in the Middle East?
TSA staffers should get paid this week, but the partial shutdown drags on. NBC News explains why Senate and House Republicans are at odds. And the 98-year-old federal judge who wants her job back. It's Monday, March 30th. I'm Cecilia Lay, and this is Apple News Today. The war in the Middle East could enter a new phase this week, but the direction remains unclear, diplomacy or escalation. Thousands of additional U.S. troops arrived in the region over the weekend. The Washington Post reports that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran as it awaits President Trump's orders. Quoting anonymous official sources, the Post suggested the plans fall short of a full-scale invasion but involve raids by special operations and conventional forces.
The administration has stressed that no decision has been made, and last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that objectives could be met without any ground troops. Idris Ali is a national security correspondent for Reuters. He told us that thousands more troops have arrived in the Middle East, and that's a number that could get even bigger very soon.
We have troops from the 82nd Airborne arriving soon into the Middle East as well. And so the number of troops is going to increase. That's probably a few weeks away. And President Trump, as far as we know, has not missed. made a decision to send ground troops into Iran so far. That can happen quickly, but it does require a certain level of protection for these forces who might be in harm's way.
Ali reports that there's now more than 50,000 troops in the region. This buildup hasn't gone unnoticed. On Sunday, hours after the Post's reporting, Iran's parliament speaker accused the U.S. of secretly planning a ground attack. While the buildup escalates on the ground, in the air, missiles continue to fly in both directions. Trump has claimed Tehran has, quote, very few rockets left. But Ali said that among the people he's speaking to, there's a lot less certainty.
We asked our sources, How much of Iran's missiles does the United States believe it has actually destroyed? And from our understanding, essentially, the United States can only determine with high confidence that one third of Iran's missile and missile launchers have been destroyed so far.
Ali reports another third of Iran's missiles are either incapacitated or in underground tunnels and bunkers that can't be reached. And while missile and drone attacks on neighboring countries are much lower than last month's peak, Iran has still delivered a steady stream of aerial attacks and continues to pose a serious threat to the Gulf.
It's sort of almost in the eye of the beholder, right? Iran still has, you know, hundreds, potentially more, thousands of missiles left. So even if it's diminished, even one missile or two missiles or 10 missiles or 100 missiles might be too much for neighboring countries like the Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. And so I think it comes down to sort of what your definition, if you're a neighboring country, is of missiles. or less of a threat in absolute terms. I think they are a diminished threat, but it doesn't take much to sort of bring some of the global hubs to sort of a standstill.
Over the weekend, Gulf nations like Kuwait, the UAE, and Bahrain all reported strikes. And Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen entered the war for the first time, launching missiles toward Israel and claiming responsibility for the attacks. Ali says the Houthis could also inflict further economic pain, especially if they target a vital shipping route in the Red Sea.
And then you've got two key waterways in the Gulf and the Red Sea choked off for oil coming out, and that could really lead to an increase in prices of oil, which are already sort of skyrocketing.
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