U.S. Marines Head to Middle East: A Bold Plan Taking Shape?

U.S. Marines Head to Middle East: A Bold Plan Taking Shape?

U.S. Marine forces are expected to arrive in the Middle East next week to help Washington reopen the Strait of Hormuz or carry out other covert missions, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Marines conduct a small-boat raid exercise in Okinawa, Japan, last month (Photo: U.S. military).

Amid soaring global oil and gas prices driven by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump is pressing aides and allies to find solutions—potentially with the U.S. Marine Corps playing a central role.

According to the WSJ, the Pentagon has deployed the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), a rapid-response force of about 2,200 Marines based in Okinawa, Japan, to the Middle East.

The move is seen as preparation for a potential military operation targeting Iran, aimed at securing control of the Strait of Hormuz, Kharg Island, and other strategic islands. These locations could serve as staging grounds or defensive bases against Iranian attacks on commercial shipping.

The MEU is a self-contained force of roughly 2,200 personnel, integrating ground troops, aviation, and logistics. As a core element of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF), it can operate independently from the sea, conducting amphibious assaults, evacuations, or high-intensity combat without immediate resupply.

Its four main components include:

Ground Combat Element: Marines equipped with armored vehicles and artillery
Aviation Combat Element: Aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor, helicopters, and F-35B fighter jets
Command Element: Coordinates operations
Logistics Combat Element: Provides essential support, supplies, and maintenance

The unit is particularly specialized in amphibious and airborne assault operations.

Strait of Hormuz: Economic and Military Flashpoint

Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—a critical waterway through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil and gas flows—has dealt a heavy blow to the global economy, driving up fuel prices and creating a major military and political challenge for the Trump administration.

U.S. forces are attempting to reopen the strait by targeting Tehran’s threat capabilities, including anti-ship missile sites, missile production and storage facilities, drones, and naval mines.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) says about 50,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in the Middle East as part of the conflict with Iran. Since launching operations on February 28, the Pentagon has conducted more than 7,800 airstrikes, damaging or destroying over 120 Iranian vessels, according to a March 18 report from CENTCOM.

Most recently, on March 17, U.S. forces dropped bunker-buster bombs weighing more than two tons on fortified Iranian coastal positions used to store anti-ship cruise missiles.

Despite nearly three weeks of U.S.-Israeli strikes, Iran continues to target American forces and their allies in the region. Caitlin Talmadge of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology noted: “The U.S. has carried out thousands of sorties, but we are still not certain that all of Iran’s capabilities have been eliminated.”

Washington’s Strategic Options

Deploying a combat-ready unit like the 31st MEU gives President Trump additional options to pressure Tehran. Iran controls several small islands off its southern coast, where it maintains oil infrastructure and missile bases.

First, Kharg Island: Covering about 25 square kilometers, this island is Iran’s most economically vital, located roughly 20 km off its southwest coast in the Persian Gulf. It serves as the country’s primary oil export hub. On March 16, Trump threatened to strike its pipelines after U.S. forces had already targeted key military facilities there the previous week.

Rather than destroying Kharg’s oil infrastructure, U.S. Marines could seize the island and use it as leverage to reopen the strait.

Retired General Frank McKenzie explained: “The U.S. could destroy the oil infrastructure, which would cause irreparable damage to Iran’s economy and the global economy, or seize it as a bargaining chip without permanently harming global markets.”

Such an operation could be carried out by sea, with the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli deploying landing craft and Marines. Alternatively, it could be conducted primarily by air, using MV-22 Ospreys and helicopters capable of vertical takeoff and landing from ships or nearby Gulf states.

Vice Admiral John Miller added: “U.S. Marines could also be deployed to seize control of other islands within the strait, positioning forces to intercept Iranian fast boats and shoot down missiles threatening maritime traffic.”

Kharg Island serves as a key transshipment hub for delivering Iranian crude oil to major Asian markets (Photo: Google Maps).

Second, Qeshm Island: Located at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, it serves as a safe harbor for Iranian naval forces and missiles, and hosts a major desalination plant. Its size and location allow Tehran to control shipping flows.

Third, Kish Island: A smaller economic hub west of Qeshm, featuring an airport.

Fourth, Hormuz Island: Situated east of Qeshm, where Iran stations small attack vessels.

Nicole Grajewski of Sciences Po noted that many of these locations are heavily fortified or were previously abandoned sites dating back to the Shah’s era.

Positioning Marines on offshore islands—rather than inside Iranian territory—could offer a loophole allowing Trump to claim he is keeping his promise not to deploy ground troops into Iran.

“I don’t see them going into Iran proper,” Miller said. “But deploying to surrounding islands in the Gulf could provide tactical advantages for a period of time.”

Potential Operation: A Daring Mission to Seize Nuclear Material

So far, the Trump administration has declined to disclose the exact purpose of deploying Marines to the Middle East. However, some sources suggest the president is considering another ground operation: seizing or destroying near weapons-grade nuclear material reportedly stored deep beneath a mountain in Isfahan.

According to The New York Times, “by any measure, this would be one of the boldest and riskiest military operations in modern U.S. history.” A major complication is that no one is certain where all the nuclear material is located.

If storage containers are breached, the released gas could be both toxic and radiologically destructive. If stored too closely together, there is also a risk of triggering a nuclear chain reaction.

Following extensive U.S. and Israeli strikes on its military infrastructure, Iran may now view its nuclear material as one of its final lines of defense.

George Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said: “They need it more than ever—and are prepared to defend it.” He added that Iran appears to have carefully planned ahead of U.S.-Israeli operations, meaning Washington should assume Tehran has done the same for its nuclear storage sites.

Iran Strikes World’s Largest LNG Facility in Qatar Iranian forces have launched an attack on the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex in Qatar, causing widespread damage and prompting Doha to condemn the incident as a “brutal assault.” State-owned QatarEnergy confirmed on Tuesday that Iranian missiles struck the Ras Laffan facility, located about 80 kilometers north of Doha. The site is widely regarded as the largest LNG production complex in the world. An AFP correspondent reported that massive flames from the complex lit up the night sky and were visible from as far as 30 kilometers away. QatarEnergy said emergency response teams were “immediately deployed to contain the blaze,” adding that the situation has since been brought under control. However, the company acknowledged the attack caused “extensive damage.” Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said its air defense systems intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting Ras Laffan. Black smoke rises over Doha, Qatar, on March 1, reportedly following an Iranian strike on an industrial area (Photo: AFP). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned what it called “Iran’s brutal attack on Ras Laffan,” describing it as a “direct threat to national security.” The ministry later announced that Iranian military and security attachés, along with their staff, had been ordered to leave the country within 24 hours. The strike on Ras Laffan came just hours after Israel targeted Iran’s massive South Pars gas field, part of the world’s largest natural gas reserve shared between Iran and Qatar in the Gulf. Israeli media reported that the operation was carried out with U.S. approval, though neither country has officially claimed responsibility. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of “uncontrollable consequences” following attacks on energy infrastructure. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later threatened to destroy the oil and gas industries of neighboring Gulf states it considers aligned with U.S. interests if Iran’s own energy sector is targeted again. “We warn once again that you have made a grave mistake in attacking the Islamic Republic’s energy infrastructure, and retaliation is already underway,” the IRGC said in a statement. “If such actions are repeated, further strikes on your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will continue until they are completely destroyed.” Location of the Ras Laffan industrial complex (Graphic: Oil and Gas Middle East). Iran also launched a wave of drones and missiles toward Gulf countries later the same evening. Loud explosions were reported in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, while officials in the United Arab Emirates said they had intercepted a missile threat. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said it intercepted four ballistic missiles on March 18, with debris falling near a refinery south of Riyadh. The Gulf region has been facing escalating fallout from Iranian retaliation following U.S.-Israeli strikes that began on February 28. “Targeting energy infrastructure poses a direct threat to global energy security,” the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, calling Iran’s actions a “dangerous escalation.”