President says US ‘getting very close to meeting our objectives’; missiles fired at joint US-UK military base in Indian Ocean but neither hit

U.S. President Donald Trump says he is considering ‘winding down’ the Middle East military operation, but his statement seemed at odds with his administration’s move to send more troops and warships to the region.

The move comes after the Pentagon last week ordered the USS Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group and 31st MEU to transit to the Middle East.

The Pentagon is sending three warships and thousands of additional Marines to the Middle East, even as President Trump insists he won’t put American boots on the ground in Iran, according to U.S. officials.

Iran is threatening recreational and tourist sites worldwide and insisting it is still building missiles three weeks into an escalating war in the Middle East.

The mixed U.S. messages came after another climb in oil prices plunged the U.S. stock market, and was followed by a Trump administration announcement that it will lift sanctions on Iranian oil loaded on ships, a move aimed at wrangling soaring fuel prices.

By Johann M Cherian and Utkarsh Hathi March 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes fell on Friday to multi-month lows as the Iran war entered its fourth week, roiling energy markets and forcing investors to aggressively rethink the Federal Reserve's next policy move.

After Iranian Shahed drones hit an oil refinery in Kuwait, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Kyiv has sent more than 200 military specialists to the Middle East to help defend critical infrastructure from the same type of threat Ukraine has faced for years.