New Delhi, March 14 -- The United States is deploying roughly 5,000 additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East as the war involving Iran intensifies, NBC News cited three US officials as saying.

The deployment includes an Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit (ARG/MEU), comprising around 2,500 Marines and 2,500 sailors, officials said as per the news outlet.

The Marines assigned to the deployment are part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in Japan. The unit is the United States Marine Corps' only permanently forward-deployed MEU.

Marine Expeditionary Units are designed for rapid crisis response missions, including evacuating civilians from conflict zones, protecting embassies and establishing entry poin...