The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Friday that it was deploying some additional assets to the Middle East and near the Middle East to increase force posture in the region amid an increased threat environment created by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The U.S. is replacing the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, which has been deployed in the region, with the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.
The Pentagon is also sending “additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command regions,” according to a statement. “The Department is also taking steps to increase our readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense.”
The U.S. is also sending an additional fighter squadron to the region.
The news comes as Western intelligence officials believe that a large scale attack against Israel will be launched in the coming days after Israel killed Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s top military commander, on Tuesday and is believed to be behind the Wednesday killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the top leader of Hamas.
Shukr was targeted after Hezbollah murdered 12 children inside Israel over the weekend and Haniyeh was targeted in response to the October 7 attacks.
Officials believe that the attack will include Iran and its largest terrorist proxy group, Hezbollah, which is located to Israel’s north in Lebanon. The attack may also include other Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including the Houthis in Yemen, and various groups in Iraq.
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President Joe Biden warned Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a private call this week “that he expects no more escalation from the Israeli side,” Axios reported, even though Israel was protecting itself against those who are responsible for killing large numbers of Israelis.
“Biden also warned Netanyahu that if he escalates again, he shouldn’t count on the U.S. to bail him out,” the report added.
