As Iranian threats against Israel escalate, the Pentagon confirmed the United States will direct “multiple force posture moves” in the Middle East ahead of a potential attack.
On Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced he would send U.S. troops, ships, fighter jets, and land-based firepower to the Middle East. The Pentagon will also keep a consistent carrier in the region as a deterrent against Iran for at least another year.
This comes as the U.S. prepares for a retaliatory Iranian attack on Israel that could come in a matter of days as a result of the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week.
Despite Israel denying it is responsible for the death of Haniyeh, Iran and Hamas terrorists blame the Jewish state, vowing to retaliate.
According to a report from the New York Post, Austin ordered the “posture adjustments” as tensions in the region became heightened. The Pentagon will also replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group with the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.
“[S]ecretary Austin has ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the US European Command and US Central Command regions,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said. “The Department is also taking steps to increase our readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense.”
The adjustments will “complement” the U.S.’s already in-place “broad range of capabilities” as a defense mechanism to assist Israel.
The Pentagon confirmed that the U.S. is ready to support Israel by mobilizing its military assets in the Gulf, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Red Sea. Officials said that two U.S. Navy destroyers currently in the Middle East will head North to the Red Sea toward the Mediterranean Sea.
Officials fear the likely attack will be larger and deadlier than Iran’s April 13 attack on Israel, in which the U.S. military stationed in the Mediterranean Sea intercepted multiple missiles and drones launched by Iran-aligned groups targeting Israel, such as the Houthis and Shia militias.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden discussed military deployments aimed at protecting Israel from possible ballistic missiles and drone attacks.
The White House said that Biden has “reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.”
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