Updated March 28, 2026 — More than 3,500 U.S. service members, including roughly 2,500 Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, have arrived in the Middle East, U.S. Central Command said Saturday, as strikes linked to the Iran war escalate.
CENTCOM said the Tripoli — flagship of the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit — is now operating in its area of responsibility. The America-class “big deck” warship, recently diverted from a Japan deployment, can carry F-35s, Osprey tiltrotors and other aircraft, and adds transport, strike-fighter and amphibious assault capability to the fleet. CENTCOM also said the USS Boxer and two other ships, along with an additional Marine Expeditionary Unit, were ordered to the region from San Diego.
CENTCOM officials reported that more than 11,000 targets have been struck since Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday the U.S. can meet its objectives “without any ground troops,” while adding that President Trump must be prepared for multiple contingencies. Rubio said U.S. forces are positioned to provide the president “maximum optionality.”
The troop movements follow an Iranian strike on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base that wounded at least 10 U.S. personnel, two of them seriously. Iranian forces fired six ballistic missiles and about 29 drones in that attack, CENTCOM and other officials said.
The widening conflict has disrupted global aviation, reduced oil exports and pushed fuel prices higher. Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has driven some states to reroute shipments; Saudi Arabia has been sending oil through the Bab el-Mandeb at the southern end of the Red Sea as an alternative.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said Saturday they had entered the month-old war, claiming a missile launch that Israel said it intercepted. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree later said the group launched a second strike; Israel did not immediately confirm intercepts from Yemen. Analysts warn Houthi involvement raises the threat to global shipping if they again target vessels transiting Bab el-Mandeb.
Ahmed Nagi of the International Crisis Group warned that renewed Houthi attacks on commercial shipping would further raise oil prices and undermine maritime security beyond energy markets. About 12% of global trade typically passes through Bab el-Mandeb; roughly 10% of global maritime trade and about 40% of container traffic move through the Suez Canal each year.
Between November 2023 and January 2025, Houthi attacks sank two vessels and struck more than 100 merchant ships with missiles and drones, actions the group said were in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The Houthis, who have controlled Yemen’s capital Sanaa since 2014, had largely stayed out of the current conflict because of a fragile ceasefire with Saudi Arabia; their entry now complicates regional planning and raises questions about carrier deployment.
U.S. planners face constraints: the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is in Croatia for repairs, and sending a carrier into the Red Sea could risk attacks similar to those faced by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2024 and the USS Harry S. Truman in 2025.
President Trump has given Iran until April 6 to reopen the Strait of Hormuz; Tehran says it has not entered negotiations. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington delivered a 15-point action list to Tehran proposing a ceasefire, restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and reopening the strait. Iranian officials rejected that plan and offered a five-point proposal that included reparations and recognition of sovereignty over the waterway.
Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.