WASHINGTON : American warships and fighter jets are headed to the Middle East to help defend Israel, the US’ closest ally, in case Iran responds militarily to this week’s assassination of Hamas’ top political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran who is widely believed to have been executed by Israeli intelligence agencies.
In a statement, Pentagon said Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also ordered additional ballistic missile defence-capable cruisers and destroyers to the European and Middle East regions and is taking steps to send more land-based ballistic missile defence weapons there.
The US moves include sending the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, along with naval cruisers and destroyers capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. In addition, the US is sending an additional fighter squadron to the region and is taking steps to allow for the deployment of land-based missile defence capabilities.
The Pentagon did not say when the various ships and aircraft will be in place, but in a statement Friday it described the moves as necessary to “mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or Iran’s partners and proxies.”
The statement also said the movement of more military capabilities to the region aims “to improve US force protection, to increase support for the defence of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies.”
The new orders came just hours after Austin pledged additional support to Israel during a call with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
“The secretary reiterated ironclad support for Israel’s security and informed the minister of additional measures to include ongoing and future defensive force posture changes that the department will take to support the defence of Israel,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said during a briefing.
Tensions in the region have escalated significantly in the past week, following an Israeli strike in Lebanon that killed Fouad Shukur, Hezbollah’s top military commander, and the subsequent assassination of Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president.
Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death, but Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, named Israel and called for retribution.
“The criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory and has caused our grief, but it has also prepared the ground for a severe punishment,” Ayatollah Khamenei posted on the X social media platform.
“It is our duty to take revenge,” he added in a separate post.
Iranian officials said Thursday they planned to meet with representatives from Iran’s key allies — including Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, and militias in Iraq and Syria — to plan their next steps.
“How Iran and the resistance front will respond is currently being reviewed,” said Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s armed forces chief, speaking on Iranian state TV.
“This will certainly happen, and the Zionist regime [Israel] will undoubtedly regret it,” he added.
But U.S. officials have repeatedly signalled that Washington would not leave Israel undefended and would come to its support.
During a call Thursday between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden “discussed efforts to support Israel’s defence against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones, to include new defensive US military deployments,” according to the US readout.
US defence officials Friday likewise emphasized Israel would not stand alone in the face of any Iranian response.
“We will stand with Israel in their self-defence,” said Ms. Singh, the Pentagin spokesperson.
Besides the additional ships and warplanes being deployed in the Middle East, the Pentagon has a U.S. Marine Corps amphibious ready group with some 4,000 troops in the region.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group is also in the Middle East but is expected to leave once the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group arrives.
This would not be the first time the U.S. has boosted its military capabilities to help shield Israel from an Iranian attack.
In April, the US moved naval destroyers and other military assets into the region while coordinating with Britain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other allies in the Middle East to thwart a massive drone and missile barrage by Iran.
