The United States strengthens its military presence in the Middle East after the assassination of Iranian general Suleimani. The United States Department of Defense has approved the deployment of three thousand additional troops to the region, news agencies reported Friday, January 3, citing Pentagon officials.
According to Reuters, this is a precautionary measure in connection with the increased threat to US forces in the region. The 82nd Airborne Division will be deployed to the Middle East.
On the night of Friday, January 3, an Iranian general Kassem Suleimani and several prominent Iraqi politicians and military leaders were killed as a result of an American missile strike on a convoy of cars near Baghdad International Airport.
Suleimani led the elite division of Al-Quds of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which carries out military and covert operations outside of Iran.
He was considered one of the most important military ranks of Iran – the general oversaw the fight against the Islamic state, was responsible for Syria and Iraq, and received orders directly from Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.