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The Pentagon has put forward a request for $200 billion to support military operations in Iran as President Trump weighs the option of deploying additional troops to the region.
This move suggests a possible escalation in the conflict, as the United States aims to secure the strategic Strait of Hormuz amid continued bombings.
This funding appeal follows a study revealing that the U.S. has already invested approximately $3.7 billion, averaging $891.4 million daily, over the initial 100 hours of Operation Epic Fury, with costs escalating to $11 billion within the first week.
Sources have informed The Washington Post that the Pentagon has asked the White House to petition Congress for these funds.
It remains uncertain whether the White House will proceed with the request, as some officials within the Trump administration anticipate opposition from Congress.
Democrats remain largely against the war efforts and Kentucky libertarian Rand Paul typically votes against military funding, meaning the 60 votes to avoid a filibuster may not be there.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon declined to comment when reached by The Daily Mail.
The Trump administration is considering sending thousands of troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East, a US official and three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The deployments could help provide Trump with additional options as he weighs expanding US operations, with the Iran war well into its third week.
A supplemental funding request of up to $200billion and the potential of Donald Trump deploying troops to secure the Strait of Hormuz could signal a new phase in the war with Iran
The funding request comes after a study concluded that the US has spent around $3.7 billion, or $891.4 million a day, on wartime efforts in the first 100 hours of Operation Epic Fury, rising to $11 billion in the first week alone
Those options include securing safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a mission that would be accomplished primarily through air and naval forces, the sources said.
But securing the Strait could also mean deploying US troops to Iran’s shoreline, said four sources, including two US officials.
Reuters granted the sources anonymity to speak about military planning.
The Trump administration has also discussed options to send ground forces to Iran’s Kharg Island, the hub for 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports, three people familiar with the matter and three US officials said.
One of the officials said such an operation would be very risky. Iran has the ability to reach the island with missiles and drones.
The United States carried out strikes against military targets on the island on March 13 and Trump has threatened to also strike its critical oil infrastructure.
However, given its vital role in Iran’s economy, controlling the island would likely be viewed as a better option than destroying it, military experts say.
Any use of US ground troops – even for a limited mission – could pose significant political risks for Trump, given low support among the American public for the Iran campaign and Trump’s own campaign promises to avoid entangling the US in new Middle East conflicts.
The Trump administration is considering sending thousands of troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East at the Strait of Hormuz
Trump administration officials have also discussed the possibility of deploying US forces to secure Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
The sources did not believe a deployment of ground forces anywhere in Iran was imminent but declined to discuss specifics of US operational planning.
Experts say the task of securing Iran’s uranium stockpiles would be highly complex and risky, even for US special operations forces.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: ‘There has been no decision to send ground troops at this time, but President Trump wisely keeps all options at his disposal.
‘The president is focused on achieving all of the defined objectives of Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran’s ballistic missile capacity, annihilate their navy, ensure their terrorist proxies cannot destabilize the region, and guarantee that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.’
The discussions come as the US military continues to attack Iran’s navy, its missile and drone stockpiles and its defense industry.
The US has carried out more than 7,800 strikes since launching the war on February 28 and damaged or destroyed more than 120 Iranian vessels so far, according to a factsheet released on Wednesday by the US Central Command, which oversees the roughly 50,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East.
Trump has said his goals go beyond degrading Iran’s military capabilities and could include securing safe passage through the Strait and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Explosions erupt following strikes at Tehran Oil Refinery in Tehran
Ground forces could help broaden his options to address those goals, but carry significant risk.
Even without any direct conflict in Iran, 13 US troops have been killed so far in the war and about 200 have been wounded, although the vast majority of the injuries have been minor, the US military says.
For years, Trump has railed against his predecessors for getting involved in conflicts and has vowed to keep the United States out of foreign wars.
But more recently he has refused to rule out the possibility of ‘boots on the ground’ in Iran.
A senior White House official told Reuters that Trump has various options for acquiring Iran’s nuclear material but has not decided how to proceed.
‘Certainly there are ways in which it could be acquired,’ the official said, adding: ‘He hasn’t made a decision yet.’
In written testimony to lawmakers on Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Iran’s nuclear enrichment program had been obliterated by strikes in June and the entrances to those underground facilities had been ‘buried and shuttered with cement.’
The sources said the discussions on US reinforcements go beyond the arrival of an Amphibious Ready Group next week in the Middle East, with an attached Marine Expeditionary Unit that includes more than 2,000 Marines.
But one of the sources noted that the US military was losing a significant number of forces with the decision to send the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier to Greece for maintenance after a fire on board the vessel.
Trump has also oscillated on whether the U.S. should secure the Strait of Hormuz.
After initially saying the U.S. Navy could escort vessels, he called on other countries to help open the key water way. With little interest from allies, Trump on Wednesday mused about simply leaving.
‘I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Strait?,” Trump posted on Truth Social.