The United States military has announced the deployment of additional resources to the Middle East, including an aircraft carrier, amid growing concerns about the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.
On Friday, the Pentagon revealed it would send an additional fighter jet squadron, Navy cruisers and destroyer ships to the Middle East.
“We’ve demonstrated since October and again in April [that] the United States’s global defense is dynamic, and the department retains the capability to deploy on short notice to meet evolving national security threats,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters on Friday.
“As a result, the secretary will be directing multiple, forthcoming force-posture moves to bolster force protection for U.S. forces region-wide, to provide elevated support to the defense of Israel and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to this evolving crisis.”
The announcement comes after the recent, high-profile killings of officials of Hamas and Hezbollah, two groups linked to Iran.
Israeli forces are believed to be behind the assassinations, and media reports indicate that Iran appears likely to retaliate, particularly after one of the killings took place on its soil.
That, in turn, has heightened fears of a widening conflict that could unleash destruction across the region.
Singh told reporters on Friday that the decision to increase the US’s military capabilities in the Middle East came after high-level calls with Israeli officials.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held a call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant earlier that morning, she explained.
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