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Trump Sending Troops To Middle East After Attack On Saudi Oil Facilities

Workers fix damage at Saudi Aramco's Khurais oil field in Saudi Arabia on Friday after it was hit during a Sept. 14 attack.
Amr Nabil
/
AP
Workers fix damage at Saudi Aramco's Khurais oil field in Saudi Arabia on Friday after it was hit during a Sept. 14 attack.

President Trump has authorized the deployment of additional U.S. forces to the Middle East to strengthen air and missile defenses around Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Pentagon announced late Friday.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper called the move a first step and said the deployment would be defensive in nature. He said the deployment comes in response to requests for help from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the deployment moderate, but offered no specifics on the number of troops involved. He said the Pentagon would have more to say about the deployment next week.

The announcement appears to signal that President Trump has not yet decided whether to order to a military strike against Iran, which the administration has said was behind the attack on Saudi oil facilities.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Richard Gonzales is NPR's National Desk Correspondent based in San Francisco. Along with covering the daily news of region, Gonzales' reporting has included medical marijuana, gay marriage, drive-by shootings, Jerry Brown, Willie Brown, the U.S. Ninth Circuit, the California State Supreme Court and any other legal, political, or social development occurring in Northern California relevant to the rest of the country.