Pentagon Deploying 2nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to Middle East; IDF Announces Killing of IRGC Spokesman | NTD Good Morning (March 20)

An additional force of U.S. warships and an attached Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is set to deploy to the Middle East amid ongoing combat operations against Iran, a U.S. military source told The Epoch Times. The source told the newspaper that the warships, currently based out of San Diego, are set to sail across the Indo-Pacific region to reach the waters of the Middle East.

About 5,000 sailors and Marines are set to join the 50,000 U.S. troops already deployed to the Middle East. So far, no U.S. ground troops have entered combat with Iranian forces.

Israel announced the killing of Ali Mohammad Naini on Friday morning. He was the spokesman for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the head of their Public Relations Array. Israel says he was the IRGC’s main propagandist for the last two years and played a significant role in the recent suppression of Iranian protests. This is the third day this week that top Iranian officials have been killed by the Israeli military, including Iran’s Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib.

At a high-stakes meeting on Capitol Hill on March 19, U.S. border czar Tom Homan met with several Democratic lawmakers, trying to peel off the six additional Democratic votes needed to reopen the DHS. The meeting ended with no immediate breakthroughs. Homan didn’t offer details but said that they would “keep having discussions.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has warned senators that if a deal isn’t met by next week, their spring recess would be canceled.