By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Erin Banco and Gram Slattery WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration is considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East,

Qatar’s defence ministry said ballistic missiles launched from Iran targeted the northern coastal complex late Wednesday, with at least one striking the site after several were intercepted.

The US took fresh steps to curb the turmoil in energy markets as Iran vowed to escalate its attacks on oil and gas infrastructure in the Middle East with the conflict stretching toward three weeks.

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is moving away from operations tied to the Iran war and sailing to the US Navy’s base in Crete for repairs after a fire broke out in the ship’s laundry area last week,

By Tim Reid WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The Iran war is influencing Democratic primaries ahead of November's midterm elections, with progressives faulting moderate rivals for not opposing President Donald Trump's bombing campaign strongly enough and for what they call overly close ties with defense contractors and Israel.

The war between Iran and the United States is rapidly intensifying to include other countries, including Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Iran’s soccer federation is in discussions with FIFA about moving their World Cup matches to Mexico from the United States due to concerns about the safety of their players, Iranian soccer president Mehdi Taj said on Monday.

(Refiles to add dropped word American in paragraph 10) By Patricia Zengerle, Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - Iran's government has been degraded since the war began on February 28,