The United States is preparing to reinforce its military presence in the Middle East within the coming days, deploying thousands of additional troops to maintain readiness for potential strikes against Iran if the current ceasefire collapses. The Washington Post reports this, citing sources within the U.S. government.

According to the publication, the Pentagon intends to send reinforcements as the Trump administration continues to pressure Iran in an effort to secure an agreement. At the same time, Washington is weighing the possibility of further strikes or even ground operations should the fragile truce fail to hold.

Officials, both current and former, indicate that roughly 6,000 service members are being dispatched to the region as part of a strike group led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77). In addition, around 4,200 rapid response forces and Marines are expected to arrive in the Middle East by the end of April.

Meanwhile, the analytical platform Iran War Cost Tracker reports that U.S. spending on military operations against Iran has already surpassed $51.2 billion. The conflict, which began on February 28, has now been ongoing for more than six weeks.

The tracker monitors expenditures in real time, drawing on data from a Pentagon briefing to the U. S. Congress dated March 10. At that time, it was reported that costs had reached $11.3 billion within the first six days of the conflict, with projections indicating that daily spending could amount to approximately $1 billion over the course of the operation.