An unspecified number of troops in the US have been put on prepare to deploy orders, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Monday.
“Secretary Austin increased the readiness of additional US forces to deploy, elevating our preparedness to respond to various contingencies,” she said. “I’m just not going to get into specifics for [operational security] reasons, but these forces cover a wide range of capabilities and missions.”
Singh also said that additional air defense support going to the region, announced by the Pentagon on Sunday, are units previously scheduled to deploy that will now be joining units already there instead of replacing them.
The reinforcement of air support capabilities, she said, includes “a certain number of units already deployed to the Middle East region that will be extended, and the forces due to rotate into theater to replace them will now instead augment the in-place forces already in the region.” It will include “an additional few thousand” service members in the region, she said.
“I can tell you these augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F-22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel,” Singh said.
I’d say they, like Iran, are meddling for their own purposes, but are not the core reason for its start or continuation.