US sends thousands more Marines and three warships to Middle East as Trump 'considers' Kharg Island occupation
It comes as Trump branded his NATO allies 'cowards' in a fresh attack on the alliance
Donald Trump is reportedly sending thousands more marines and three warships to the Middle East as he weighs up an invasion of Iran's Kharg Island.
Listen to this article
According to a report in Axios, Washington is hoping a blockade of the Island would put pressure on Iran to allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which transports around 20% of the global oil supply.
It comes as Washington sources have said the Pentagon is sending three warships and thousands of additional Marines to the Middle East, marking the second deployment of Marines to the region in the past week.
The roughly 2,200 to 2,500 Marines will be deployed on the California-based USS Boxer amphibious.
Read more: Iranian arrested after 'attempting to enter' British nuclear missile base
White House officials have said Trump's desperation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could lead the US to invade Kharg Island.
“He wants Hormuz open,” a White House official told Axios.
“If he has to take Kharg Island to make it happen, that’s going to happen. If he decides to have a coastal invasion, that’s going to happen. But that decision hasn’t been made.
“We’ve always had boots on the ground in conflicts under every president, including Trump. I know this is a fixation in the media, and I get the politics, but the president is going to do what’s right,” a second senior official said.
No decision has been made as of Friday afternoon.
It comes as the US president launched a fresh attack on his NATO allies, branding them "cowards" in a blistering TruthSocial post.
"Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!" he raged.
"They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran. Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices."
"So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER"
The US and Israel launched strikes on Kharg, a five-mile-long island in the Persian Gulf, last week, escalating their conflict with Iran and putting further strain on global oil supplies.
US forces made sure to leave the island’s oil export facilities untouched but Trump warned he would reconsider if Iran fails to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking on Thursday night, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said the war could end “a lot faster than people think” as he gave an update on he and Trump’s war in the Middle East.
Netanyahu vowed to "hold off" future attacks on Iranian gas fields following a direct request from President Trump.
The Israeli PM was also seen to reject accusations that he'd 'dragged' Donald Trump into the ongoing war with Iran.
Declaring the Middle East has now changed "beyond recognition", the PM insisted Israel still has "more to do" in the wake of ongoing attacks.
"We have brought our friend the US to a cooperation never seen in history," he says."The great collaboration between myself and my good friend Trump is unprecedented."
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer insisted he recognises ‘pressure on families’ as Iran war drives up prices.
The PM had previously said the UK will not be drawn into the wider war in the Middle East amid mounting concerns over US demands, with UK defence secretary John Healey vowing to “step up” defensive support for Gulf states, including Qatar.
In recent days, the Iran war has entered a new phase following the Israeli strike on the South Pars gas field.
The strikes, which were condemned by US President Donald Trump, saw the Islamic Republic declare energy site in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
After the warning, Iranian strikes hit a liquid natural gas (LNG) facility in Qatar before taking aim at Saudi Arabia.
The attacks on the Ras Laffan plant in Qatar caused damage that will take years to repair and sent prices up by 35 per cent.
The fallout from the new phase of the war could severely impact Britain, which relies on LNG for 35 per cent of its domestic energy use.
Despite the price of oil rising by eight per cent to $116-a-barrel on Thursday, President Trump sought to reassure Americans.
“It will be over soon,” he said. “We had great everything and I saw all that was happening in Iran, and I said, ‘I hate to make this excursion, but we’re going to have to do it.’ I actually thought the numbers would be worse. I thought that it would go up more than it did,” he added.
In response to the attack on South Pars on Wednesday, the President wrote on Truth Social: "Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran."