After Israel launched an attack on Iran, the United States has begun moving its military resources towards the Middle East, considering the possibility of a retaliatory attack by Iran. Here are more details.

The United States is shifting military resources in the Middle East in response to Israel’s strikes on Iran and a possible retaliatory attack by Tehran.

Iran has told the United States and UK that it could retaliate if the countries aid Israel in attacks amid fears the Middle East will descend into war.

As of mid-2025, there are about 40,000 to 50,000 US troops in the Middle East, comprising personnel stationed in both large, permanent bases and smaller forward sites across the region.

Shapiro served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East until January—charged with, among other things, considering scenarios in which tensions between Israel and Iran escalated into all-out war and preparing U.

Tensions in the Middle East have escalated as Israel employs unprecedented warfare tactics against Iran, according to Louis Libin, a combat technology expert.

U.S. embassies and military bases across the Middle East are on high alert, as fears grow about an Israeli strike on Iran.

The United States has pulled some diplomatic staff and military families out of the Middle East, citing unspecified regional security risks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported that the United States has redirected 20,000 missiles, originally intended for Ukraine to combat Russian Shahed drones, to the Middle East. Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with ABC News;