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The United States is sending an aircraft carrier strike group, a fighter squadron and more warships to the Middle East in response to Iran’s retaliation for the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Tehran earlier this week, CNN reported.
The U.S. military deployment to the region may be the largest since the war in the Gaza Strip broke out.
“We heard the (Iranian) supreme leader say loud and clear that he intends to avenge the killing of the Hamas leader in Tehran and that they want another attack on Israel,” John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the National Intelligence Service, said in an interview with the U.S. Security Council television channel.
He added: “We cannot just assume that we could also fall victim to such an attack, so we need to ensure we have the appropriate resources and capabilities in the region.”
On Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group currently operating in the Gulf of Oman, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement.
In addition, destroyers and cruisers with the ability to counter ballistic missiles will also be sent to the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The statement did not disclose which warships would be sent. In April, a total of two US destroyers participated in intercepting Iran’s attack on Israel in the eastern Mediterranean.
Singh said Austin also ordered the deployment of a fighter squadron to the region.
The United States already has the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship deployed to the region, part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is capable of evacuating American citizens in Lebanon if ordered to do so.
U.S. officials said the expected Iranian attack could happen in the coming days and the United States is closely monitoring the situation in the region.
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