US guided missile submarine ordered to Middle East amid rising tensions
by Miranda Nazzaro - 08/12/24 10:50 AM ET
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft strike group to accelerate its travel to the region amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran, the Defense Department announced Sunday.
The decision comes as the United States and allies fear an escalation in the region following the apparent assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut earlier this month.
Iran has reiterated its intention to punish Israel for the death of Haniyeh, which Israel has yet to take responsibility for, and officials are anticipating Iranian retaliatory strikes any day.
The assassination of Iran-aligned militant leaders came more than three months after Iran directly fired at Israel with hundreds of missiles and drones in an unprecedented attack, that time in retaliation for an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria.
US guided missile submarine ordered to Middle East amid rising tensions
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4823689-us-defense-secretary-orders-submarine/
