US Is Moving Aircraft Carriers To The Middle East, Fearing An Iranian Attack On Israel

The Pentagon has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the Pacific and more fighter jets to the Middle East. The Pentagon announced on Friday that the United States will send more troops and other military assets to defend Israel and American forces from an expected complex attack by Iran and its allies.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the Pacific, and its escort destroyers, as well as an additional fighter squadron, to the region.

The Pentagon said it would also deploy more ballistic air defense forces to the Middle East, not only to defend Israel but also to protect U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, who have come under attack from Iran and its allies.

This is the second time since April that the United States has moved quickly to defend Israel, following the assassination of Iranian officials and armed groups supported by Tehran by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

U.S. assets already in the region include ground and air forces, as well as destroyers, amphibious ships, and, most recently, an aircraft carrier to help repel attacks from Iran, Yemen, or Lebanon.

Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Friday that Austin was preparing “multiple future force posture operations to enhance force protection for U.S. forces and Israel.”

The mobilization follows the assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Beirut and Tehran last week. Israel praised the first incident but did not comment publicly on the second.

The killings are embarrassing for Iran’s leaders, especially the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a government-run guesthouse in Tehran that was supposed to be very secure.

There are serious concerns that the assassinations of Haniyeh and Hezbollah’s top combat commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut will trigger a more unpredictable response than the April 13 Iranian attack on Israel, which was telegraphed in advance to allow the United States, France, and Britain to help Israel repel more than 300 missiles and drones.

In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. would provide more military assets “to support Israel’s defense against threats,” according to a summary.

Iran’s proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen could attack Israel from multiple directions at once, complicating a defense already strained by the ongoing war in Gaza and months of missile and rocket attacks in Lebanon.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said this week that a coordinated attack on Israel was planned. “Since they have fought everyone, they don’t know where the response will come from,” he said. He added that the response would come individually or in coordination.

On Thursday, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi threatened “a military response to these outrageous and dangerous crimes, which constitute a major escalation by Israel’s enemies.”

The U.S. launched what it called a “self-defense” strike in Iraq on Tuesday, targeting Iranian-backed militants preparing to launch drone attacks near U.S. bases.