Putting the boots in...

Trump sends 5000 marines to the Gulf as special forces planes set off from UK base

- BY CHRIS HUGHES

DONALD Trump is sending thousands of Marines to the Middle East as the Iran war dramatically escalates, it is reported.

The deployment has boosted suspicions the US is considering a boots-on-the-ground operation against the Iranian regime.

An expeditionary force of 2300 Marines is reportedly being sent aboard three new warships towards the war-torn region.

They will join thousands of Marines already near the Iran frontline and total around 5000.

Sources suggest the US could seize Iran's Kharg Island, 16 miles off the mainland.

It would help free up Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route for oil and gas.

We can also reveal that US special forces warplanes have been deployed to the region.

Nine of the MC-130J Commando II planes landed recently at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk but four have taken off for the Middle East.

It could be a further move towards the UK becoming more entrenched in the war and comes just days after British troops came under fire at their base in Erbil, northern Iraq.

An intelligence analysis we have seen warned the movement of the warplanes from the UK could become politically sensitive.

It says their stationing in Britain is strategically significant because Mildenhall hosts the only US Air Force Special Operations Command presence in Europe.