Trump administration officials are considering the deployment of 14,000 additional troops and other military hardware to the Middle East to counter a potential threat from Iran, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The discussions come as fresh intel has emerged over the past month that Tehran is moving troops and weapons into potential positions that are of concern to the United States.
Tensions in the Persian Gulf have risen since Iran attacked oil tankers this summer and shot down a U.S. drone in Saudi Arabia. Tehran has denied being behind the attacks.
A senior Pentagon official said Wednesday there were indications Iran could potentially carry out aggressive actions in the future.
"We also continue to see indications, and for obvious reasons I won't go into the details, that potential Iranian aggression could occur," John Rood, the Pentagon's No. 3 official, told reporters.
Rood did not provide details about what information he was basing that on or any timeline.
"We've sent very clear and blunt signals to the Iranian government about the potential consequences of aggression," Rood said.
Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, the head of the military's Central Command, nearly two weeks ago said the deployment of 14,000 additional American troops to the Persian Gulf region since the spring had not likely dissuaded Iran from planning a major attack.
"I would expect that if we look at the past three or four months, it's possible they will do something that is irresponsible. It's possible that they'll lash out at their neighbors," McKenzie told an audience in Bahrain at the time.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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