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The US will deploy thousands of additional troops to the Middle East as tensions with Iran mount following the airstrike that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, CNN reports, citing a US defense official. 

The additional troops will come from the Immediate Response Force of the 82nd Airborne Division.

The Pentagon later confirmed the deployment in a statement provided to CNN.

CNN has previously reported that these forces had been placed on prepare-to deploy orders and would be sent to the region if the situation merited it.

Following the disturbance at the US Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week, the US deployed 750 troops from the same unit and said that additional deployments were possible.

The new deployment will encompass the rest of the brigade, typically about 3,000 soldiers.

The US also recently reinforced the embassy in the Iraqi capital with a contingent of US Marines from a crisis response task force based in Kuwait.

In a dramatic escalation amid tensions between the two countries, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday that the US killed Soleimani, the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, in a drone strike on Baghdad International Airport ordered by President Donald Trump.

The force protection levels for all US military forces in the Central Command area of operations had been increased in the last 24 hours, according to two US defense officials.

The level was raised from Force Protection level "Bravo" to "Charlie," which applies "when a terrorist or hostile act incident occurs within the commander's area of interest or intelligence is received indicating a hostile act, some form of terrorist action or targeting DoD elements, personnel, or facilities."