As US warships helped Israel shoot down Iranian missiles on Tuesday, the Pentagon was preparing to send planes, ships and thousands of troops to the Middle East. The United States is thus increasing its already substantial presence in this region, where the war seems to be spreading. Here’s a look at where U.S. forces operate in the Middle East and their missions.
Posted at 1:18 a.m.
Updated at 6:00 a.m.
Mike Ives et Agnes Chang
The New York Times
Eastern Mediterranean
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE US NAVY
The USS amphibious assault ship Wasp was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Lebanon and Israel. It carries a contingent of marines, landing craft and vertical take-off aircraft.
The United States deployed the USS amphibious assault ship Wasp and three guided-missile destroyers in the Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Lebanon and Israel.
U.S. warships in that region helped Israel shoot down Iranian missiles on Tuesday, President Joe Biden told reporters after the attack.
The USS aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman departed Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, at the end of September for a previously scheduled deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean. He was still crossing the Atlantic on Monday.
Red Sea
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE US NAVY
Le destroyer lance-missiles USS Stockdale is part of the American units patrolling the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen.
In the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen, US navies and other countries have been trying since 2023 to end attacks on merchant ships by the Houthis, an Iran-backed militia that has described itself as in solidarity with Hamas. . Some American warships were attacked.
As of Monday, the Navy had deployed several guided-missile destroyers to the Red Sea, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
Gulf of Oman
The USS aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, who was due to return to the United States at the end of a mission that began in August, was ordered to remain in the Gulf of Oman, off the coast of Iran, on Sunday. Like other aircraft carriers, it is part of a carrier strike group, which includes an escort equipped with guided-missile destroyers.
Military bases
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE AMERICAN AVIATION
KC-135 Stratotankers air tankers on the tarmac at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in 2017
About 40,000 American troops are stationed at bases in the Middle East. On Tuesday, the Pentagon refused to quantify the reinforcements it is sending there, limiting itself to mentioning a contingent of “a few thousand” soldiers.
As of September, about 2,500 U.S. troops were in Iraq, many of them fighting the resurgent Islamic State group. There are also 900 in Syria.
Qatar, on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf from Iran, is home to the largest US military base in the Middle East.
Nearby Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates also host US bases, as does Djibouti, an African country across the Red Sea near Yemen.
As of 2021, Kuwait, located southeast of Iraq in the Persian Gulf, had approximately 13,500 U.S. troops in several bases. At the time, only Germany, Japan and South Korea hosted larger U.S. contingents. Kuwait was a logistical hub for U.S. forces during the Iraq War.
This article was published in the New York Times.
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