March 28, 2024

Trump approves troop deployment in response to attacks on Saudi oil sites | TheHill

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Trump approves troop deployment in response to attacks on Saudi oil sites

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Esper said “all indications” are that Iran was responsible for the attacks. The troops will be deployed in a “defensive posture” to increase security, Esper said, though it was not immediately clear how many additional troops would be sent to the region.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Dunford said it would not be “thousands” of troops.

Further details are expected to be released in the coming days.

Trump had in recent days indicated the administration believed Iran was behind the incident, but officials had refrained from saying so definitively.

Brian Hook, the administration’s special envoy for Iran, told CBS News earlier Friday that Iran was responsible for the attacks but that officials were still working to determine where the attack originated from.

The administration on Friday morning slapped new sanctions on Iran’s central bank in response to the bombings of the Saudi oil fields. But he has been reticent to commit to additional military engagement, pointing to prolonged conflicts in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

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Brett Samuels
The Hill

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