The US military is deploying three more warships and marines to the Middle East as Iran fires on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states, sending oil and gas prices surging.
The US military is deploying three more warships and about 2,500 more marines to the Middle East, where there's no end to the war in sight.According to the Associated Press, the Pentagon’s request for another $200 billion to fund the war would need congressional approval as the U.
S. national debt hits a record $39 trillion.Iran insisted Friday that it would deny its opposition their security almost three weeks into U.S.-Israeli strikes that have killed several of Tehran’s top leaders and damaged its weapons and energy industries.A spokesperson for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard told the Associated Press Friday that Tehran was still building missiles. The AP noted that Naeini also said the Iran war would continue, but a short time later, Iranian state television reported Naeini was killed in an airstrike.Israel hit the Iranian capital Tehran with airstrikes Friday, with the attack coming as Iranians marked Nowruz, or the Persian New Year, according to the AP. U.S. and Israeli leaders have said that weeks of strikes have decimated Iran’s military. Airstrikes have also killed its supreme leader, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and other top-ranking military and political leaders.According to the Associated Press, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday Iran no longer has the ability to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles. Israel will hold off on any further attacks on the Iranian gas field, Netanyahu added, at the request of President Donald Trump.Meanwhile, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, has soared since Israel and the U.S. started the war with Iran. Here’s the latest from Friday: 12:05 p.m. ET: Georgia has become the first U.S. state to suspend fuel taxes as pump prices soar due to war in the Middle East. The average gas price nationwide has risen from $2.93 a gallon on Feb. 20 to $3.91 today, the Associated Press reported, citing AAA.The AP noted that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law Friday a 60-day suspension of the state’s 33-cents-per-gallon tax on gas and 37-cents-per-gallon tax on diesel. That’s $5 or $6 per tank for a typical passenger vehicle, and could mean forgoing $360 million to $400 million fuel taxes.Other states aren’t moving in the same direction. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he won’t suspend that state’s taxes. A leading Maryland Democrat on Friday rejected a GOP-supported gas tax holiday there.11:45 a.m. ET: According to the Associated Press, President Donald Trump mentioned the Iran war as he presented the Commander in Chief trophy to the Navy football team for beating Army during their 2025 game. Without providing details, he said, "We’re doing extremely well."The AP reported that Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, weren’t at the ceremony because they were in the White House Situation Room.As the event unfolded, an official told The Associated Press that the U.S. was deploying three more warships, consisting of roughly 2,500 more Marines, to the Middle East, as the war in Iran continues.Concluding his remarks, Trump said he’d lead the team on a tour of the Oval Office.11:40 a.m. ET: Asked about President Donald Trump’s plans for the additional troops, and reports that the administration is considering plans to occupy or blockade Kharg Island, a White House official said that Trump has said he has "no plans" to send troops into Iran, but retains all options and does not broadcast his military strategy, according to the Associated Press. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, told the AP that the U.S. military could "take out Kharg Island at any time."10:49 a.m. ET: According to the Associated Press, the news comes days after the U.S. military redirected another group of amphibious assault ships carrying Marines from the Pacific to the Middle East.Last week, the AP reported that a U.S. officials also confirmed that the Japan-based USS Tripoli and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit have been ordered to the Middle East — shifting them from exercises in the vicinity of Taiwan. Earlier this week, the USS Tripoli and another amphibious assault ship, the USS New Orleans, were spotted sailing west of Malaysia on publicly available satellite imagery.The AP noted that the pair of Marine Expeditionary Units will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region where the U.S. is engaged in a war with Iran. The U.S. military says it has about 50,000 troops in the region.10:05 a.m. ET: The Associated Press reported that stocks are slipping under the weight of another rise for yields in the bond market, which makes borrowing more expensive for U.S. companies and households, slowing the economy and affecting investments. Furthermore, treasury yields have climbed as the Iran war threatens a long-term spike in oil and natural gas prices.According to the AP, traders have canceled bets that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates multiple times this year, and some are even seeing a slight possibility of a rate hike in 2026, a nearly unthinkable scenario before the war began. Lower interest rates would give the economy and investment prices a boost, and Trump has angrily called for them, but they risk worsening inflation.Markets outside of Wall Street held up better after their wipeout on Thursday as oil prices pulled back Friday to $108.29 for a barrel of Brent crude.On Thursday, President Donald Trump told reporters he would not be sending troops "anywhere." This came after Trump requested Israel not attack South Paris. He also warned on social media that if Iran continued striking Qatar, the U.S. would "massively blow up the entirety" of the field.Asked later about the possibility of U.S. ground troops being deployed to Iran, Trump responded: "No. I’m not putting troops anywhere."So far, more than 1,300 people in Iran have been killed during the war. The Lebanese government confirmed more than 1,000 people have been killed.In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. Four people were also killed in the occupied West Bank by an Iranian missile strike overnight.At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.
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