The Pentagon will send an aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to support Israel
The Pentagon will send a carrier strike group to the Middle East to support Israel amid the high risk of conflict with Iran, department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said.
A decision has reportedly already been made to send a carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln to the region. It will replace the group led by the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. The corresponding order has already been given.
A decision has also been made to send additional destroyers and cruisers with missile defense systems to the areas of responsibility of the European and Central Commands.
The Pentagon explained such measures by the desire to «reduce the likelihood of regional escalation by Iran or its partners.
It was previously reported that Israeli and American intelligence expects an Iranian attack on Israel today. Earlier, Türkiye reported that Turkish airlines have canceled or postponed night flights to Tehran. The Turkish publication suggests that this may be due to Iran's plans to attack Israel for the murder of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh. German, American and British airlines have previously reported the suspension or cancellation of flights to Israel.
On July 31, Hamas announced that Haniyeh had been killed in an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration ceremony of President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian. The Al Hadath television channel reported that Haniyeh had been killed by a direct hit from a rocket. Deputy head of the Palestinian movement's Politburo Musa Abu Marzouk assured that the murder would not go unpunished. As a source in the IDF told TASS, the military of the Jewish state is not commenting on the information about Haniyeh's death.
Later, the head of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry Esmail Khatib accused the United States of conniving at Haniyeh's assassination. According to him, Washington knew about Israel's plans to eliminate the head of the Hamas Politburo and allowed them to be carried out. «The US gave the green light to the disgraceful assassination of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh by the Zionist invaders (referring to Israel),» the Mehr news agency quoted the Iranian intelligence chief as saying. «Haniyeh's assassination has once again shown the brutality of the Zionist regime,» Khatib said.