This handout photo provided by the US Navy shows the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, left, in 2019.
Zachary Pearson | U.S. Navy Handout | Getty Images
The U.S. is sending more troops and military hardware to the Middle East as it seeks to increase the resources available to “defend Israel,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “reiterated the United States’ commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions,” the statement, issued Sunday by Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, said.
This includes sending a guided missile submarine to the region, as well as accelerating the transit of a carrier strike group equipped with F-35C fighter jets.
The statement follows a call between Austin and Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday. It comes against the backdrop of Iran’s leadership vowing retaliation against Israel after the killing of Hamas’ former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
Iran, which supports Hamas, says Israel carried out the assassination. Israel has not commented on the matter.
Tehran has not yet responded militarily to the act, leaving its adversaries and the wider region on tenterhooks.