No more troops for the Middle East: US

WASHINGTON－The US Department of Defense on Wednesday denied a report alleging Washington was weighing sending up to 14,000 more troops to the Middle East in the face of a perceived threat from Iran.

The Wall Street Journal had reported that the possible deployment would include "dozens" more ships and double the number of troops added to the US forces in the region since the beginning of this year, citing unnamed US officials.

The report said US President Donald Trump could make a decision on the troop boost as early as this month.

But the Pentagon disputed the accuracy of the report.

"To be clear, the reporting is wrong. The US is not considering sending 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East," Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah tweeted.

The Middle East region has seen a series of attacks on shipping vessels and a drone and missile assault on Saudi oil installations in September blamed on Iran. Teheran has denied the claim.

Washington has already ratcheted up its military presence in the Persian Gulf region and expanded economic sanctions on Iran, elevating tensions across the region.

In mid-November, the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln sailed through the Strait of Hormuz in a show of force aimed at reassuring allies worried about the Iran threat.

In October, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced that two fighter squadrons and additional missile defense batteries were being sent to Saudi Arabia.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country was willing to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear program if the US first drops sanctions, which have hampered the country's economy and may have contributed to recent domestic turmoil sparked by fuel price rises.

A a defense conference in Manama, Bahrain, on Nov 23, General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command, said the US does not have all the resources it needs to cover the Middle East region.

"There is a lot of water to cover. Simply put, we don't have sufficient resources to be where we want to be in the right numbers all the time," he told the annual Manama Dialogue on regional security.

But McKenzie rebuffed criticism that Washington has been disengaging from the region.

"We have a carrier in the theater; we've reinforced Saudi Arabia," he said.

"So I'm not sure I would agree with the narrative of abandonment or a narrative of walking away.

"Clearly the United States has different global priorities and this is probably not the highest global priority, but I think it remains a very important thing for the United States."