The US will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and keep an aircraft carrier in the region as it beefs up its presence in the area amid fears Israel could face attacks from Iran and its allies.
The Pentagon announced the move as Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the European and Middle East regions and said more land-based weapons will follow.
In April, U.S. forces intercepted dozens of missiles and drones fired by Iran against Israel and helped down nearly all of them.
U.S. leaders worry about escalating violence in the Middle East in response to recent attacks by Israel on Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, which triggered threats of retaliation.
Iran has also threatened to respond after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday, a day after senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur was killed in Beirut.Israel has vowed to kill Hamas leaders over the group's October 7 attack, which sparked the war in Gaza.Austin is ordering the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which is in the Gulf of Oman but scheduled to come home later this summer.
That suggests the Pentagon has decided to keep a carrier consistently in the region as a deterrent against Iran at least until next year.
The Pentagon did not say where the fighter jet squadron was coming from or where it would be based in the Middle East.
A number of allies in the region are often willing to base U.S. military forces but will not admit it in public.In a statement, the White House said President Biden "reaffirmed his commitment to Israel's security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis."
