In a press conference following his visit to U.S. Central Command in Florida, Secretary of State Pompeo argued that the decision to deploy 1,000 more troops to the Middle East was “to continue to work to convince the Islamic of Iran that we are serious and to deter them further aggression in the region”. He added that “President Trump does not want war, and we will continue to communicate that message, while doing the things that are necessary to protect American interests in the region”.