Middle East war: US could send up to 10 000 troops to Middle East – reports

2026-03-27 - 09:00

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war: Iran Guards urge civilians to leave areas near US forces in region Iran’s Revolutionary Guards urged civilians across the region on Friday to stay away from areas near US forces, nearly a month into the war with the United States and Israel. “The cowardly American-Zionist forces... are attempting to use civilian locations and innocent people as human shields,” said the Guards in a statement on their Sepah News website. “We recommend that you urgently leave locations where American forces are stationed so that no harm comes to you.” US weighs sending up to 10,000 troops to Middle East: reports The United States is weighing sending up to 10,000 extra troops to the Middle East, US media reported Friday, as speculation grows that Washington may be preparing a ground operation in Iran. The deployment would mark a significant boost to Washington’s military presence in the region, despite US President Donald Trump insisting that Tehran was taking part in peace talks with Washington to end the war. The Wall Street Journal reported that the move would aim to provide Trump with “more military options” in the Middle East, engulfed by war since US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. The troops would join thousands of paratroopers and Marines who have already been ordered to the region. An Iranian official said Wednesday that Tehran would retaliate to a ground invasion of its territory by Washington by activating its Houthi rebels in Yemen to attack shipping in the Red Sea. That would open up a new front in a war of spiralling economic, political and military repercussions. Trump has repeatedly said he does not plan to send ground troops into combat with Iran. “It is unclear where precisely forces will go in the Middle East, but they will likely be within striking distance of Iran and Kharg Island, a crucial oil export hub off Iran’s coast,” the Journal said. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment. Trump has pushed back his deadline for strikes on Iran’s energy assets, assuring that talks on ending the war were “going very well.” Israel’s military, meanwhile, said early Friday that it carried out “a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran”. UN demands ‘justice’ after Iran school strike The deadly bombing of an Iranian school spurred “visceral horror”, the UN rights chief said Friday, urging Washington to conclude its probe and demanding justice “for the terrible harm done”. Speaking at the start of an urgent debate in the UN Human Rights Council focused on the February 28 strike on an Iranian elementary school in Minab on the first day of the Middle East war, Volker Turk said that “whatever differences countries have, we can all agree they will not be solved by killing schoolchildren”. The bombing “evoked a visceral horror”, Turk told the United Nations’ top rights body. “The images of bombed-out classrooms and grieving parents showed clearly who pays the highest price for war: civilians with no power in the decisions that led to conflict,” he said. “In this case, a reported 168 pupils, teachers, school staff, and their loved ones.” A US Tomahawk cruise missile hit the school due to a targeting mistake, according to the preliminary findings of a US military investigation reported by The New York Times newspaper. Guards claim missile, drone attacks Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had carried out missile and drone strikes the previous day targeting sites in Israel and military facilities in the Gulf used by US forces. A maintenance facility for US air defence system Patriot was targeted in Bahrain, the Guards said in a statement carried by Iranian news agencies. Israel strike Tehran Israel’s military said its forces carried out “a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran” early Friday. Australia defends efforts Australia’s leader said Friday it was not consulted over the war with Iran, responding to President Donald Trump’s swipe the US ally was not doing enough. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia was in close contact with Gulf states under attack from Iran, providing a surveillance aircraft to help defend the United Arab Emirates, where many Australians live. “There is no request been made to Australia that has not been agreed to,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra. Blasts in Beirut Lebanese media reported an Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Friday, as AFP correspondents heard several explosions from the Hezbollah stronghold that Israel has repeatedly struck since war erupted. AFPTV footage showed smoke billowing from the area after the raid. Trump pushes back deadline US President Donald Trump said he would not yet strike Iranian power plants as previously threatened after a request from Tehran, adding that talks with the Islamic republic were “going very well.” “I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.” Israel army demands more soldiers The Israeli military said it needs more troops for deployment in southern Lebanon, where forces are engaged in fighting Hezbollah as part of efforts to establish a so-called “buffer zone”. “On the Lebanese front, the forward defensive zone that we are creating requires additional (Israeli army) forces,” military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said, noting that the military is operating across multiple fronts, including the West Bank, Gaza and Syria. Israel opposition leader attacks government Israel’s main opposition leader Yair Lapid accused the government of steering the country towards a “security disaster” by “sending the army into a multi-front war without a strategy, without the necessary means and with far too few soldiers”. “The (Israeli army) is stretched to the limit and beyond. The government is leaving the army wounded out on the battlefield,” Lapid said. Israeli soldier killed in Lebanon The Israeli army announced the death in combat of a soldier in south Lebanon, just hours after reporting another death from its ranks. Four Israeli soldiers have now been killed in fighting in south Lebanon since Hezbollah began launching rocket attacks against Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. World Bank ready ‘at scale’ The World Bank said it was prepared to provide immediate financial assistance to countries in emerging markets dealing with the economic fallout of the conflict in the Middle East. “We are ready to respond at scale — combining immediate financial relief with policy expertise and private sector support for the recovery of jobs and growth,” the World Bank Group said in its first statement on the crisis.