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11:27 24.07.2026 •
The U.S. is surging forces, medics and weaponry to the Middle East to give President Trump more muscular military options as he considers expanding the conflict against Iran, according to people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal writes.
In the past week, special-operations forces have deployed to the region from their U.S. bases, according to flight-tracking data and U.S. officials. Squadrons of jet fighters have been staged across the Middle East, and bomber aircraft at bases in the U.S. and U.K. are on high alert to ramp up operations, according to one of the officials.
Additionally, more than 150 medics have arrived at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany in recent days, another official said. The hospital is the primary location for treating troops injured in combat in the Middle East.
The preparations are the latest indication that Trump is considering escalating the conflict after three American soldiers were killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan over the weekend. A fourth servicemember was killed in Iraq during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.
U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday that it had launched a 12th consecutive day of strikes against targets in Iran. “The mission will continue to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” it said in a statement.
Retired Gen. Joseph Votel, the former commander of Centcom and of U.S. Special Operations Command, said the surge itself doesn’t necessarily mean major military operations are inevitable.
“The big idea here is to give the president and the secretary [of defense] the most flexibility, and the force the most options to present to them,” Votel said.
A spokesman for the Pentagon referred questions about the troop movements to U.S. Central Command, which declined to discuss details, citing operational security. In a statement, the White House said Trump “always has all options at his disposal.”
The preparations come despite concerns in Washington about America’s endgame and the mounting cost of the war, which has reached more than $37 billion, according to congressional testimony this week from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Returning to all-out war also risks further draining U.S. munitions and exacerbating disruptions to global oil supplies, as Iran continues to attack commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and as the Iran-backed Houthis threaten shipping in the Red Sea.
Trump and Hegseth have defended the war, now in its fifth month, as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Trump on Wednesday threatened to bomb a bridge or power plant each time Tehran attacks a vessel traveling through the strategic waterway. Current and former military officials caution it isn’t lawful to strike an adversary’s infrastructure for political purposes, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said in a social-media post that “any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response.”
Trump has ramped up his rhetoric against Iran, threatening to punish the country for the deaths of Americans and saying on Tuesday that he might order an assault on Pickaxe Mountain, where Iran is suspected to have buried nuclear-enrichment centrifuges.
“The president has many options available to him if they continue to insist on not being cooperative,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at a summit in Manila, in reference to the Iranian regime.
Despite a tenuous ceasefire since April, the human toll of the conflict is rising. Overall, 18 U.S. troops have been killed during the conflict from enemy fire and accidents, while hundreds more have been wounded.
Iran also has fired on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war.
The Iranian regime has shown no signs of backing down, and its leaders have pledged to continue attacking U.S. forces and American partners in the Gulf.
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