one,500 much more troops and defensive capabilities headed to Middle East to deter Iran

An further 1,500 U.S. troops and amplified defensive capabilities capabilities are staying sent to the Middle East to go on to aid prevent Iran, a U.S. official mentioned on Friday.

President Donald Trump confirmed the 1,500 figure as he still left the White Property Friday afternoon as he still left for a vacation to Japan, calling it a “reasonably smaller variety.”

“We want to have defense,” he instructed reporters. “We are going to be sending a somewhat little variety of troops — mostly protecting. Some quite gifted people are going to the Middle East, ideal now. We will see what comes about.”

“I never feel Iran wishes to combat,” he said.”And I surely never believe they want to combat with us. They are not able to have nuclear weapons and beneath the Obama horrible arrangement, they would have had nuclear weapons inside five or 6 decades. They can’t have nuclear weapons. They realize that,”

The amount of troops the president authorised on Thursday is a lot more compact than the five,000 to 10,000 requested by U.S. Central Command as component of the ongoing energy to deter Iranfrom attacking U.S. forces in the Center East.

The additional defensive abilities asked for by U.S. Central Command incorporate added Patriot anti-missile batteries, like the 1 now deployed to an unspecified site in the Middle East to deter Iran as perfectly as reconnaissance aircraft and further air and missile defense programs, mentioned a different U.S. official.

A further U.S. formal reported some of the further forces would be engineers who would “harden” buildings for defensive purposes.

On Thursday afternoon, performing Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan verified that the Pentagon would be inquiring for far more forces, but would not affirm any quantities, saying that it was not 5,000 or 10,000 as was remaining documented..

“What we are concentrated on now is do we have the ideal pressure safety in the Center East?,” he told reporters outside the Pentagon.

“What we’re searching at are there issues we can do to enhance drive security in the Center East,” he extra.

Shanahan acknowledged that these a ask for ” might involve sending additional troops.”

On Thursday there was a White House meeting to look at the ask for from U.S. Central Command, according to two U.S. officials, who pressured that it was unclear which parts of the topline CENTCOM ask for could be permitted at this White Residence assembly.

A U.S. formal informed ABC Information Wednesday that the defensive capabilities and weapons programs had been currently being asked for, and that the variety of further forces would rely on which capabilities are accepted.

The CENTCOM request has been in the functions for some time, the U.S. formal reported.

There are at present 60,000 to 80,000 U.S. troops serving in the Middle East like 14,000 in Afghanistan, 5,000 in Iraq, two,000 in Syria, 10,000 in Kuwait, 10,000 in Qatar and 1000’s more at sea and somewhere else in the region.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Personnel Gen. Joseph Dunford briefed the Home and Senate Tuesday on President Donald Trump’s Iran tactic, including new intelligence of an enhanced Iranian threat and the U.S. reaction to it, the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike team and B-52 bombers and the requested departure of non-crisis staff from Iraq.

Just after listening to from the officials, Democratic lawmakers expressed alarm around the administration’s posture in the Center East and the possibility of a conflict with Iran.

It is feasible that in the long run supplemental U.S. Navy ships could be sent to the region further than the USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Team and the USS Kearsarge Amphibious Group that are at present in the North Arabian Sea.

But it really is unclear when supplemental ships could arrive in the region. Two weeks in the past, the Pentagon declared that the USS Arlington would be headed to the Middle East to swap out with a further ship, but that has nevertheless to occur as the Arlington is currently in Spain.

The new CENTCOM request for more defensive abilities and forces will come as Shanahan said on Tuesday that the menace of Iranian attacks against U.S. forces experienced been put “on maintain.”

U.S. officers mentioned the Iranian menace to U.S. forces proceeds even as Iran has pulled back again some weapons systems. Two U.S. officers said that Iran has taken out cruise missiles from two civilian dhows that posed a possibility to U.S. Navy ships, professional ships and land targets.

ABC News’ Trish Turner contributed to this report.