The United States is planning to extend its troop deployment in West Asia to 2027 amid the Iran conflict escalating in its seventh month. The extended deployment could include the US Army’s 82nd airborne division, according to a letter sent to the families of deployed troops, read by The Wall Street Journal.The development comes after the United States Central Command (Centcom) carried out strikes on multiple sites inside Iran on Tuesday. Centcom confirmed the attacks on Wednesday, while Tehran responded with strikes on US-linked facilities across the Gulf. Iranian officials said the latest US strikes killed 18 people and wounded 142 others.According to The Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon is maintaining a major military presence in the region to preserve Trump’s options as he decides the next course of the war. The US has around 50,000 troops in the region, while 19 warships, air-defence units, fighter squadrons and paratroopers have been deployed.US forces are currently tasked with intercepting Iranian missiles, protecting commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and blockading Iranian ports and coastal areas. The military is also prepared for larger offensive operations if Trump decides to escalate.The WSJ reported that Trump received briefings last month on options including intensified airstrikes, deploying ground troops to seize Iranian islands near Hormuz and bombing Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified site that could be used for covert nuclear activity.Extended deployment strains US troopsThe prolonged conflict is putting pressure on US service members and their families while contributing to maintenance delays that could take years to resolve, according to the WSJ.Army air-defence units have seen their usual deployment period increase from nine months to 12 months. Some units shifted from planned positions in Europe and the Pacific have already spent more than a year in the Middle East.The US Navy also has 19 warships in the region, including two aircraft carriers and 13 guided-missile destroyers. Several destroyers are now remaining at sea for months at a time rather than taking regular breaks, the WSJ reported.Trump has increasingly relied on economic pressure, hoping it will compel Tehran to negotiate. Last week, the US launched Operation Economic Outcast, targeting Iran’s major economic pillars, including oil, shipping, aviation and digital assets, according to ANI.Trump believes continued economic pressure could eventually push Iran to dismantle its nuclear programme or lead to the regime’s collapse.“I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing,” he wrote on social media. “They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?”However, Tehran has shown no indication of backing down, with the US and Iran continuing to exchange fire as both sides assert control over the Strait of Hormuz.As the latest confrontation unfolded, US forces also struck nearly 60 Iranian military sites around the strait, targeting air-defence systems, radar installations, maritime infrastructure, mine-laying facilities and communications networks. The US guided 40 commercial vessels through the waterway on Tuesday, two US officials told CNN, marking the highest number protected in a single operation during the war so far.