Pentagon Sends 2,200 Marines, Tripoli Amphibious Group Toward Middle East

International Business Times ^ | 03/13/26 AT 4:13 PM EDT | Matias Civita

[Candor7]

The Pentagon has ordered a Marine expeditionary unit with about 2,200 Marines and three Navy amphibious warships from Japan toward the Middle East, a significant new U.S. force movement amid tensions tied to the war with Iran.

U.S. officials told ABC News that the deployment centers on the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, a forward-deployed force based in Japan that normally operates in the Indo-Pacific. At the center of the movement is the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group, led by USS Tripoli, an America-class amphibious assault ship.

USNI News reported that the Tripoli had been operating in the Philippine Sea earlier this week alongside USS San Diego and USS New Orleans, the three ships that make up the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group. That report added that while defense officials confirmed that Tripoli and its embarked Marines were heading toward the Middle East, it was not yet publicly clear whether all three ships in the group were being sent onward together.

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TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; War
KEYWORDS: 2500; bootsontheground; iran; marines; pentagon; tripoli

[Candor7]

A part of Iran is about to become US property. My bets are either Karg Island, or the North shore of the Straits of Hormuz.Maybe both.

[fhayek]

It could be just a feint. It gives Iran one more thing to worry about. Your two targets are logical. The military might just want to get the Marines deployed in theatre to be available for whatever contingencies that might arise.

[Wallace T.]

Attacking Kharg Island and the north shore of the Straits of Hormuz may be inevitable. If we do this, we will need the assistance of Israel and Saudi Arabia providing ground troops. The U.S. Navy will have to enter the Persian Gulf, like it or not. We may suffer severe losses, bilateral the other alternative is to back down. We cannot block Chinese or Russian ships without starting World War III. We cannot count on a popular uprising.

[Ozymandias Ghost]

Intense bombing in Isfahan Province reported today ...that's “Pickaxe Mountain” area ...wonder if that means anything???

[Terry L Smith]

My wonder is, “ Are there any “gunboats” to support the operative landings?

Iranians know missiles, Irbms, but not the boom of “cruisers “ on up.

[gibsonguy]

IBT is another rat propaganda op disguised as financial news outlet. I will look for a better source for this story.

[Abathar]

How times have changed, had the press back in WWII announced our troop movements and destinations they would have been thrown in prison so fast their eyes would have popped.

I guess with Russia and China telling them what’s going on they knew before the anchors came out of the water, but still.

[one guy in new jersey]

Now we’re talking.

[Danie_2023]

“”Pentagon Sends 2,200 Marines, Tripoli Amphibious Group Toward Middle East””

***

Oh chit. This is getting series. [tic]

What took them so long?

[MtnClimber]

There is video of an Iranian imam with two wives arriving in an airport in Canada. Mullahs also reported fleeing to Moscow and the UK. The UK will allow the mullahs, but has a ban on IRGC.

Unknown if the Basij (Morality Police) or IRGC are given refugee status in Canada right now..

[one guy in new jersey]

Amphibious landing?

🤔🤨

Maybe, but a night invasion primarily by helo seems more likely.

Hella plural helos!

[Sacajaweau]

The press has no ethics...and they have a political agenda.

We the People of the United States have become the victims of our own Bill of Rights and Freedom of the Press has become a license to print hate and untruths.

[Deaf Smith]

Kharg island has a oil storage capacity of 25-30 million barrels.

Being a small island, one does not want to be there if the Iranians decide to blow the storage tanks.

[Wallace T.]

There is as much a problem with the alt right podcasters and blogs as with the legacy media. However, a mere two years ago, we were complaining about Big Tech and the Biden Administration suppressing conservative speech.

[Night Hides Not]

I thought I read 5000 Marines just yesterday.

[No name given]

Yep.

[one guy in new jersey]

Combined marines and other service members, mostly navy sailors probs

[Kazan]

It was suicide mission to try to take and hold Kharg Island as long as Iran has missiles and drones.

You're a living a fantasy world.

[avital2]

i read it would take a couple of weeks for Marines and their ship/s to get there - once they are sent.

[Wilderness Conservative]

Imagine Marines and Japanese taking the strait together. What a different world we’re in.