US orders new troops to Middle East

(Washington) – The United States said it was deploying 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East to counter “credible threats” from Iran in a move denounced by Tehran as “a threat to international peace”.

“Increased US presence in our region is very dangerous and a threat to international peace and security and must be confronted,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the official IRNA news agency.

The escalation of the US military presence follows a decision in early May to send an aircraft carrier strike force and B-52 bombers in a show of force against what Washington´s leaders believed was an imminent Iranian plan to attack US assets.

“This is a prudent response to credible threats from Iran,” acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Friday.

President Donald Trump, who approved the deployment, called it “protective.”