MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Thousands more U.S. troops have reached the Middle East, and even more are on the way. The Pentagon has not said what their mission is. In a few minutes, we'll hear from a former leader of U.S. Central Command about what he thinks they might be ordered to do. But first, we're going to start with some numbers.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
NPR's Greg Myre is covering this and joins me now. Good morning, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: So how many troops are we talking about here?
MYRE: Yeah. More than 2,000 Marines arrived in the region over the weekend. Another 2,000 or so Marines are on the way by ship. A similar number of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne are expected soon. So overall, the U.S. is going to have roughly 50,000 troops in the Middle East. Now, this expanding force gives President Trump additional options, but these are still relatively small numbers. They could carry out specific, limited operations, but it's not nearly enough for a major, sustained ground invasion. And as we noted, neither Trump nor the Pentagon has hinted at the mission, but clearly, the most urgent issue is the Strait of Hormuz. So there's speculation - and at this point, it's just that, speculation - that the troops may be part of an effort to try to open the strait for oil tankers.
FADEL: In the meantime, Iran carried out another significant attack against a U.S. base, this time in Saudi Arabia. What happened?
MYRE: Yeah. Iran struck the Prince Sultan Air Base outside the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Friday, and this is a big deal for several reasons. A dozen or more U.S. troops were injured. A very valuable plane was apparently damaged or destroyed. It was an E-3 AWACS. And this is essentially a flying command center that gives you a picture of the battlefield. Now, the Pentagon hasn't provided details. But multiple news reports and photos, verified by Agence France-Presse, show the plane was split in half. And a direct hit on a key plane at an important airbase deep inside Saudi Arabia suggests Iran is somehow acquiring very detailed targeting information. And one possibility is the Iranians are getting help from Russia, and there's a somewhat unexpected source on this. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says Ukrainian intelligence shows Russian satellites are gathering information on U.S. targets in the Middle East.
FADEL: Now, he was in the Middle East over the weekend, the Ukrainian president. Why?
MYRE: Ukraine is the world leader when it comes to defensive drones that can shoot down incoming drones, and Iranian drones in particular. Ukraine was forced to learn very quickly because Russia was buying drones from Iran and firing them at Ukraine. At this point, Russia has taken that Iranian technology and is making its own upgraded drones. Now, Zelenskyy says Ukrainian drone teams are already helping Middle Eastern countries. And he was in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, seeking their help in his war with Russia.
FADEL: Now, we're watching this war expand in the Middle East - a lot of people being killed, infrastructure destroyed. Is there any diplomatic progress to end this war?
MYRE: Yeah. Pakistan is taking the lead role as mediator. It's one of the few countries with pretty decent relations with both the U.S. and Iran. And Iran has agreed to allow Pakistani-flagged oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz - two a day, up to a total of 20 - so that helps Pakistan. But there's no real sign of a possible U.S.-Iran breakthrough. The mistrust was summed up by Iran's Parliament speaker, who accused the U.S. of talking about diplomacy while secretly planning a ground invasion.
FADEL: NPR's Greg Myre. Thank you, Greg.
MYRE: Sure thing, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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