US Marines conduct amphibious landing drills despite Trump’s statements PHOTO

The US military on April 2 showed off photos of US Marines conducting a simulated amphibious assault, even as US President Donald Trump is saying it will be up to other countries to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The set of eight photos released on a Defense Department website showed members of the Force Reconnaissance Platoon of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) doing a mock recon last week, coming ashore at the US naval base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

The 31st MEU is part of the USS Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group, which CNN has reported was being deployed to the Middle East with as many as 2,400 Marines.

The Marines would likely be an important part of any US assault on islands in the Persian Gulf, including those that oversee the approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil supply usually flows.

US Central Command has said that roughly 50,000 US troops, including Marines, are already in the Middle East as part of the war with Iran.

Trump has previously threatened Iranian islands in the gulf, including its main oil transfer point on Kharg Island, but in his televised address Wednesday night he did not mention the possibility of using ground troops against Iran.