Military experts told CNBC that the US buildup of troops in the Middle East raises the prospect of three possible attack scenarios.

• Military experts said that the number of additional troops being deployed to the region appears to be consistent with plans for discrete and time-limited operations — rather than a sustained ground campaign.

Three scenarios

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• The first possibility is seizing Qeshm Island, which sits “in the horseshoe bend of the Strait of Hormuz,” Davis said.
• Qeshm Island, off Iran’s southern coast, is the largest island in the Persian Gulf. Located near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, the arrow-shaped island has emerged as a potential U.S. target amid reports that anti-ship missiles, mines, drones and attack craft are being kept there in underground tunnels.

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• The second target could be Iran’s Kharg Island, the centerpiece of Iran’s oil industry. Often referred to as its “oil lifeline,” Kharg Island is a coral island located about 15 miles off the coast of mainland Iran.

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• A third scenario is a raid to capture over 400 kilograms of reprocessed material, provided the U.S. can locate this and it is sufficiently concentrated to make a raid viable.