Amid rising tensions with Iran, Washington has announced it will deploy an additional 15-hundred troops to counter what it called "malign influence" of the Iranian government.
Our Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
President Trump says... the U.S. is going to send an additional 1,500 troops to the Middle East for protection.

"We want to have protection in the Middle East. We are going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective and some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now and we will see how, we will see what happens."

U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan also tweeted on Friday local time,... that the additional deployment of troops aims to increase the American forces' protection posture... and is a prudent response to credible threats from Iran.

On the same day,... the Pentagon announced that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps... was responsible for attacks on four U.S. tankers at a port in the United Arab Emirates,... without providing specific details to back up its claims.

Trump, however, added that he is not seeking a conflict with Iran.

"Right now, I don't think Iran wants to fight and I certainly don't think they want to fight with us but they cannot have nuclear weapons. But, under the Obama horrible agreement, they would have nuclear weapons within five or six years. They can't have nuclear and they understand that."

Earlier this month, Washington deployed B-52 bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf,... amid simmering tensions in the region between the U.S. and Iran.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News