00:00Well, as the world wonders whether Donald Trump is winding down or ramping up his war with Iran,
00:06the Pentagon is expected to send thousands of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East.
00:11The Wall Street Journal and Reuters are reporting that about 3,000 troops from the 82nd
00:16Airborne Division are expected to be deployed to the region.
00:19That news comes just a day after President Trump postponed threats to bomb Iranian power plants,
00:25saying that there had been what he called productive talks with Iran.
00:28Now, Iran has denied that any direct talks have taken place.
00:32We can cross now to The Guardian's Washington bureau chief, David Smith.
00:36David, what has the White House said about these reports that more troops are headed to the Middle East?
00:43The White House doesn't want to comment on the record about its war plans,
00:47but there have been multiple reports in U.S. media suggesting that the number of troops is not quite as
00:54high as those reports indicated.
00:57It looks like maybe more than 1,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division preparing to be sent to the
01:04Middle East.
01:05This is an infantry division that specializes in forcible entry and parachute assaults.
01:12So it certainly seems to be a threat from Trump to potentially target Iranian territory and put some boots on
01:20the ground,
01:21despite opposition within his own party.
01:24However, we are in a situation here in the fog of war with still a lot of contradictory signals.
01:30Donald Trump, you see there, speaking in the Oval Office a short time ago, saying that we've already won,
01:35saying that Iran wants to make a deal badly, even saying that the Iranians had given him some kind of
01:42very pleasant gift that made him happy,
01:45that was quite lucrative.
01:47Also, there are reports of a 15-point plan that Trump has shared with Israel.
01:53And yet, at the same moment, Iran continued firing off missiles today, hitting Iraq and Israel.
02:01And the Iranian government denies that these talks are taking place or imminent.
02:08And I think part of the confusion is that on the Iranian side, because several officials have been killed,
02:13it's not entirely clear who's in charge for them to speak with one voice.
02:17And ironically, even with the U.S. as well, there's some confusion over whether Trump or Steve Witkoff or Jared
02:24Kushner
02:25or Marco Rubio or J.D. Vance is going to lead these peace negotiations.
02:30Yeah, I think the fog of war is definitely the right metaphor there.
02:33Is there any sense, David, what these additional troops might be doing?
02:36Is the idea that they might help secure traffic in the Strait of Hormuz?
02:42Yeah, I think the most likely scenario is that these troops would try to capture the island of Haag,
02:49which is a key oil terminal for Iran and absolutely crucial to Iran's own energy supply.
03:00Trump previously bombed military installations there and said he would leave the oil facilities alone.
03:05But we could see a further offensive here with U.S. troops trying to gain control of it.
03:12And indeed, the point of that, the logic of that would be to then use that as leverage to exert
03:19pressure on Iran
03:21to open the Strait of Hormuz, which, of course, is that crucial choke point at the moment
03:27that threatens to cause chaos in energy markets.
03:32It's something that some critics of Trump say he didn't completely think through,
03:35that Iran had the ability to do that.
03:37And seizing Haag Island might be a way to force Iran's hand.
03:43However, there are some military observers who say it would be a very dangerous mission.
03:49There could be American loss of life, and that would certainly play very badly back at home.
03:56Okay, the Guardian's Washington Bureau Chief, David Smith.
03:59David, thanks as always.
04:00We appreciate it.
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