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Beginning with Obama, we had the “Asia Pivot.” Now under Trump, we have the “Iran Pivot.”
The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post reported today that Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon is preparing to move the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in Okinawa to the Straits of Hormuz and the Iran theater of war.
I first heard this from T. Katsumi, a translator and journalist from Saitama, Japan, and a regular blogger on X.
It has already been confirmed that the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka headquarters has operationally deployed two vessels from the 7th Fleet to the Arabian Sea; therefore, involvement in military action against Iran is intensifying further.
This comes on top of the Pentagon’s relocation of U.S. Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile systems from South Korea to the Middle East, a move that has “triggered a geopolitical shockwave across Northeast Asia,” says Defense Security Asia.
Yesterday, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung “acknowledged during a press briefing that Seoul opposes the withdrawal yet ultimately lacks the authority to prevent Washington from redeploying its own strategic assets.” Said Lee:
We are opposing the withdrawal of some air defense weapons… but we cannot fully enforce our opinion.
According to U.S. officials quoted by the WSJ,
The Japan-based USS Tripoli and its attached Marines are now headed for the Middle East…Marines are already in the Middle East supporting the Iran operation. The move comes as Iran’s attacks on the strait have paralyzed traffic through the strategic waterway, disrupting the global economy, driving up gas prices and posing a major military and political challenge for President Trump. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment.
The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, is based in Sasebo, Japan, the Japan-based scholar Jeffrey J. Hall reported on X. He also described the Okinawa-based 31st MEU as America’s “premier response force” in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Post added this to the coverage:
The Marine force…would arrive with F-35 fighter jets, Osprey aircraft and an infantry battalion of about 800 Marines. It was not immediately clear what their role could be, but the unit is trained to seize beachheads and islands and evacuate American civilians from harm’s way. They also have expertise in holding open maritime choke points, such as the Strait of Hormuz.
This is not the first time the United States has moved military assets from Japan and Korea to war zones in the Middle East. Shortly after the U.S.. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Pentagon - without any prior notice to the South Korea government - moved much of the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, based at Camp Casey on the DMZ, to Iraq.
As I’ve said often, U.S. forces in Korea, Japan, and Okinawa are there to be forward-based troops to be used anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice. “Defending” South Korea and Japan from North Korea or China is just the cover story for their true mission.
More details from USNI News (h/t T.Katsumi):
USS Tripoli, 31st MEU Heading to the Middle East
