United States (US) acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated military plan that envisages sending up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East in case of the Iranian decision to accelerate work on nuclear weapons, or attack the US forces in the region, like reported by bernama.com.
According to The New York Times newspaper, Shanahan presented the plan during the meeting with US President Donald Trump’s top security aides held on Thursday.
The updated plan reportedly reflects the position of hardliners, headed by White House National Security Advisor John Bolton.
The size of the force is said to have shocked many participants of Shanahan’s briefing as the same number of troops was involved in the 2003 invasion in Iraq.
However, the updated military plan does not envisage the military operation against Iran that would require more troops.
The US-Iranian relations significantly deteriorated last year after Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran nuclear deal.
