Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced the US government’s plans to deploy over 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East over escalating tensions with Iran. Tensions between the two nations flared up again after the recent attack on two oil tankers, which the US has blamed Iran for.

In 2018, US President Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally from a nuclear accord, following which the US reimposed sanctions on Iran. In May 2019, Trump announced the end of sanction waivers on Iranian crude oil, preventing Iran from exporting crude oil to other countries.

In addition, US has been tightening sanctions in an attempt to isolate Iran diplomatically and economically. Last week’s attacks were the second in a month’s time, and the US has alleged that Iran is behind both rounds of attacks.

Last month too, US had deployed an additional 1,500 troops to the Middle East in response to the first set of attacks on tanker ships. During the previous week, the US government had released a video claiming Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s hand in the attack on the oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.