US eyeing reducing its military presence in Middle East

The United States is looking at reducing its military presence in the Middle East after the war with Iran, The Washington Post reported, citing sources in the U.S. administration.

According to the newspaper, the Pentagon is considering "whether to pull back troops from the Persian Gulf, where America’s large overseas military bases have been battered by months of Iranian strikes. It cited sources as saying that the Defense Department "has already signaled that it might not rebuild its bases as they were before the conflict."

The newspaper notes that this is not a comprehensive revision of the U.S. military presence in the region by the Pentagon’s policy office "is evaluating its military footprint in the Middle East in an early sign of the Iran war’s potential to transform the U.S. presence in the region." The Joint Staff and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) are studying this matter as well, it said.