The Pentagon is preparing to deploy a 3,000-person brigade combat team from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in support of ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran, according to a source familiar with the plan, first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
A formal announcement is expected from Defense officials in the coming days.
The 82nd Airborne, based at Fort Liberty in North Carolina, is one of the military’s most capable rapid-response units. The division is designed to deploy a battalion within 18 hours and a full brigade within 72 hours of receiving orders.
It was not immediately clear what specific mission the brigade combat team would carry out once deployed. The timing and exact theater of operations were also not disclosed.
The deployment comes as U.S. and Israeli forces continue military operations following Iran’s mining of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that carries roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply. The Trump administration has maintained pressure on Tehran while pursuing diplomatic back-channels, though no ceasefire has been announced.
President Trump told reporters that Iranian leaders sent him an “oil and gas” related gift. “They’re going to make a deal. They did something [Monday] that was amazing, actually. They gave us a present,” Trump said. “The present arrived today, and it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money.”
He added that the present was “very significant.”
“That meant one thing to me — we’re dealing with the right people,” the president explained. “It was a very nice thing they did. … They said they were going to do it, and it happened. And they’re the only ones that could have done it.”
