More than 3,500 U.S. troops have arrived in the Middle East, officials announced, in a deployment that includes hundreds of Special Operations Forces, thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers. U.S. Central Command declined to comment on the reported deployments.

The USS Tripoli arrived in the region carrying approximately 2,500 Marines. A second Marine Expeditionary Unit is also on its way to the Middle East, officials said.

Among the Special Operations Forces deployed to the Middle East are Navy SEALs and Army Rangers. The U.S. is also expected to send elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, a contingent of under 1,500 service members.

The troop movements come as a war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28 had entered its fifth week at the time of the report. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that his administration was continuing to negotiate with Iran and that he was optimistic an agreement would soon be reached to end the war.

"If a deal is not shortly reached and the Strait of Hormuz isn't immediately opened, the U.S. would attack all of Iran's Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet touched," Trump posted on Truth Social.

The deployment figures cited by officials have not been independently confirmed by Central Command, which declined to address the reported troop movements. The anticipated arrival of both the second Marine Expeditionary Unit and the 82nd Airborne contingent could bring the total number of U.S. service members deployed to the Middle East beyond the 3,500 already reported, though exact figures remain unconfirmed.