US sending Marines and amphibious assault ship to Middle East, officials say

WASHINGTON -  The US military is deploying thousands of Marines to the Middle East, officials told Reuters on March 20, as President Donald Trump accused NATO allies of cowardice over their reluctance to send forces to help open the Strait of Hormuz.

The narrow waterway, the conduit for around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, has been effectively closed to most shipping since the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran almost three weeks ago.

With a major share of global oil and natural gas supply choked off and vital energy infrastructure in both Iran and the neighbouring Gulf states coming under attack, oil prices have jumped about 50 per cent since the start of the war, threatening a global economic shock.

Already, more than 2,000 people have been killed, most in Iran and Lebanon, while Americans, facing sharply higher prices and wary of military entanglement, have appeared increasingly concerned at signs it could expand further.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week, almost two thirds of Americans believe Trump will order troops into a large-scale ground war, with only 7 per cent supporting such a move.

On March 20, Israel’s military said it carried out two large waves of air strikes on Tehran and central Iran, targeting weapons production facilities and sites storing ballistic missile launchers and components. Israel faced multiple waves of missile attacks from Iran, according to the Israeli military, triggering air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where explosions from interceptions were heard.

Fragments from an Iranian missile struck Jerusalem on March 20, the military said, landing just outside the Old City, which is sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, according to a photograph released by the police. There were no reports of injuries or casualties.

Kuwait’s state oil firm said its Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery had suffered multiple drone attacks that set some units alight, the latest in a series of energy facilities to be hit by Iran in recent days.

Troops deploy

With no clear end in sight, three US officials told Reuters the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, along with its Marine Expeditionary Unit of about 2,500 Marines and accompanying warships would deploy to the region, though they did not say what their role would be.

Two officials said no decision had been taken on whether to send troops into Iran itself but this week, a US official and three people familiar with the matter told Reuters that US troops could potentially land on Iran’s shore or its Kharg Island oil export hub.

Mr Trump has said the campaign has been going according to plan but he has vented his fury at US allies for declining to help open the strait while fighting continued, albeit in a conflict they were neither consulted on nor advised of.

Germany, Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Canada, as well as NATO non-member Japan, pledged in a joint statement on March 19 to join “appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait”.

Britain authorised the US to use military bases in Britain to hit Iranian missile sites threatening shipping. But German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said he would speak to Mr Trump this weekend and French President Emmanuel Macron have both said any active intervention would require an end to the fighting.

On his social media platform, Mr Trump said countries complaining about high oil prices were refusing to help open the Strait of Hormuz, “a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices”.

“So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!” he wrote.

Middle East marks end of Ramadan and Persian New Year

As Muslims around the region tried to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, which ends the fasting month of Ramadan, and Iranians marked Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Mr Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader issued a message of defiance.

Mr Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the Israeli attack that killed his father and predecessor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the war’s first day, said Iranians had responded with unity and resistance and had “dealt a disorienting blow to the enemy”.

US and Israeli officials say the weeks of bombing have severely weakened the Tehran government and depleted its stock of missiles and drones but Iran has continued to demonstrate an ability to hit back.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked Haifa and Tel Aviv with multi-warhead missiles and used drones to attack stocks of drones and cruise missiles in US bases, including Sheikh Isa air base in Bahrain. No comment was immediately available from US forces.

Israel said this week it had killed Mr Mahdi Rostami Shamastan, a key commander in Iran’s intelligence ministry. The semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim said intelligence minister Esmail Ahmadi had also been killed, the latest of dozens of leading government, military and scientific figures assassinated by Israel.

“We have nobody to talk to,” Mr Trump said. “And you know what? We like it that way.”

Fuel prices climb ahead of US election

Soaring US diesel and gasoline prices may hurt Mr Trump’s core political support as his Republicans prepare to defend slim majorities in midterm congressional elections.

On March 20, the benchmark price of Brent crude oil was up slightly, near US$110 (S$141), after surging the day before on growing fears that the largest ever disruption to world energy supplies would trigger a global economic shock.

Flows of crude and petroleum have dropped by about 12 million barrels per day - roughly 12 per cent of global demand - due to output cuts and export halts by Gulf producers.

Those barrels cannot easily be replaced by the transport, shipping and manufacturing industries that rely on them, and will make themselves felt for months or even years.

A major Qatari gas field was disrupted by an Iranian strike, and Iraq on March 20 declared force majeure on all oilfields developed by foreign oil companies. REUTERS