US President Donald Trump denied a New York Times report that top national security officials in the United States were proposing to send up to 120,000 American soldiers to the Middle East in the event of a military confrontation with Iran. “I think it’s fake news, okay? Now would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Hopefully, we’re not going to have to plan for that. And if we did, we’d send a hell of a lot more troops,” he declared. Concurrently, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Tehran was not interested in a conflict with Washington, despite repeated threats by high-ranking political and military officials. “We don’t seek war, and they don’t either. They know it’s not in their interest,” state-run media quoted Khamenei as saying. The apparent walk-back by both sides comes after the Pentagon deployed an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region, and a Revolutionary Guard Corps commander described them as “targets.” Tensions have flared between the two nations since the Trump Administration last year withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal aimed at blocking Iran from becoming a nuclear power, and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic. In response, the mullahs have moved to “diminish” their commitment to the pact while putting Europe, Russia and China on notice that the regime might jump-start uranium enrichment to high levels unless the effects of the US sanctions are somehow offset.
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