“The president has approved the deployment of U.S. forces which will be defensive in nature and primarily focused on air and missile defense,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said at a news conference Friday.

Answering reporters’ questions about the deployment, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the troop deployment as “modest” and “not thousands.”…

Esper said troops would be primarily focused on air and missile defenses.

The United States will also accelerate shipment of military hardware to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, he said.