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US considers sending additional 10,000 ground troops to Middle East amid Iran talks - report

On 27 March 2026, The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli newspaper that publishes in English, ran US considers sending additional 10,000 ground troops to Middle East amid Iran talks - report. Reporter Miriam Sela-Eitam wrote that Washington was considering up to 10,000 more American ground troops for the Middle East while talks with Iran were underway. An American family should care because that number is infantry and armor, people who fight on land, added on top of paratroopers already sent toward the region.

Background for new readers: On 28 February 2026 the United States and Israel began a joint air war on Iran. The Pentagon calls its part Operation Epic Fury; Israel calls its part Operation Roaring Lion. It came eight months after a shorter war in June 2025, when US bombers hit Iran's nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The question running through this section is whether the air war turns into American soldiers fighting on Iranian soil. This article is filed under The Buildup; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The 10,000 figure comes from the Wall Street Journal, citing Department of Defense officials, as retold by the Jerusalem Post on 27 March 2026: infantry and armored units on top of the 82nd Airborne. The White House did not deny it, saying only that "President Trump always has all military options at his disposal."

What the article says​

Sela-Eitam wrote that the United States was considering sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East amid negotiations with Iran. She attributed that to a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday night, which cited Department of Defense officials familiar with the matter. She wrote that the force would likely include infantry and armored vehicles, on top of the 82nd Airborne Division, a US Army paratrooper unit the article says was already in the region. The stated purpose, in the Journal's words as she relays them, was to give President Donald Trump more military options.

The article then says experts have suggested that the 82nd's deployment is aimed at Iranian targets such as Kharg Island, Iran's main oil-export island in the Persian Gulf. It does not name those experts. In the next sentence it says the Journal noted that it is unclear where the additional force would be sent or stationed. It says a spokesperson for US Central Command, the American military headquarters for the Middle East, declined to comment to the Journal. The note at the end says Amichai Stein, Corinne Baum, and Goldie Katz contributed.

The Post quotes a White House response that does not confirm the 10,000 figure. Deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said deployment announcements would come from the Department of War, and that Trump always has all military options. The article uses both names: Department of Defense for the officials behind the troop report, and Department of War in Kelly's sentence. This page does not try to explain that difference. It reports both as the article prints them.

"All announcements regarding troop deployments will come from the Department of War."

Anna Kelly, deputy White House press secretary, as quoted by Miriam Sela-Eitam, The Jerusalem Post, 27 March 2026. The same quote continues: "As we have said, President Trump always has all military options at his disposal."

The article also says that earlier on Thursday Trump wrote, on Truth Social, that at the Iranian government's request the United States was pausing what he called the period of energy-plant destruction until 6 April. It says the pause would last ten days and end at 8 p.m. Eastern time on that date. It says he called the talks "going very well" and did not say what would happen when the ten days ended. That pause is about strikes on energy sites.

What other reporting adds​

The Journal line, as posted. The account Osint613 posted the Wall Street Journal report the same day: "Pentagon is considering deploying up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to expand military options for President Trump as he weighs peace talks with Tehran, DoD officials tell the Wall Street Journal." (Osint613 on X, 27 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t51__v608.md). DoD is the Department of Defense. In 2025 the administration began also calling it the Department of War, which is why both names appear in these reports.

How many were already there. Three days later, a digest of US press coverage quoted The New York Times: "There Are Now Over 50,000 American Troops in the Mideast," with the arrival of 2,500 Marines and another 2,500 sailors "keeping the number of American troops in the region at roughly 10,000 more than usual." (@ZackEiseman on X, 30 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t49__v587.md).

What it shows​

Infantry and armored vehicles are not what a navy-and-air war needs; they are what a ground campaign needs. Up to 10,000 of them were under consideration, on top of about 5,000 Marines and the 82nd Airborne, and the White House answer was that the President "always has all military options at his disposal." Unnamed experts told the Post the 82nd's deployment was aimed at targets such as Kharg Island. Three days later the New York Times counted more than 50,000 American troops in the region.

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Status: Donald Trump is alive. Anna Kelly is alive.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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