President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied a New York Times report that US officials were discussing a military plan to send up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East to counter any attack or nuclear weapons acceleration by Iran.
“I think it’s fake news, OK? Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that.
“Hopefully we’re not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that,” Trump told newsmen at the White House.
The Times reported that Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated plan recently in a meeting of top national security aides.
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They, however, envisaged sending as many as 120,000 American troops to the region if Iran attacks U.S. forces or accelerates work on its nuclear weapons.
“The updated plan does not call for a land invasion of Iran, which would require far more troops,’’ the Times reported, citing unidentified administration officials.
According to the newspaper, the plan reflects revisions ordered by Iran hawks including national security adviser John Bolton. (NAN)
