BREAKING: US may deploy thousands more troops to Middle East for next phase of Operation Epic Fury: report

Reuters reports that the options being considered by President Trump "include securing safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a mission that would be accomplished primarily through air and naval forces, the sources said. But securing the Strait could also mean deploying U.S. troops to Iran's shoreline, said four sources, including two U.S. officials."

Another potential option, told to Reuters by anonymous sources familiar with the matter, would be "to send ground forces to Iran's Kharg Island, the hub for 90% of Iran's oil exports, the three people familiar with the matter and three U.S. officials said. One of the officials said such an operation would be very risky. Iran has the ability to reach the island with missiles and drones."

Still another option would be that of "deploying U.S. forces to secure Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium."

An anonymous White House official weighed in on the statements made by other anonymous US officials, saying "There has been no decision to send ground troops at this time, but President Trump wisely keeps all options at his disposal.

The president is focused on achieving all of the defined objectives of Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran's ballistic missile capacity, annihilate their navy, ensure their terrorist proxies cannot destabilize the region, and guarantee that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon."

President Trump has repeatedly been asked if there will be US boots on the ground in this incursion with Iran and, like Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, he has been a bit vague about it. Trump has not ruled out the possibility of ground warfare and Marines and other US Armed Service Members have been deployed to the region along with American air craft carriers and warships.