Defense Secretary Orders Warships Heading Toward Middle East To Sail Faster As Iran Threats Intensify

 U.S. military forces are shoring up in the Middle East in anticipation of an Iranian-led attack against Israel, the Pentagon confirmed on Sunday evening.

Iran and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon, have been adamant that they intend to soon launch an attack against Israel, although the timing or nature of the possible attack is unclear. The U.S. has promised to defend Israel in the event of an attack and is bolstering its military presence in the Middle East in preparation, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement on Sunday.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to “accelerate its transit” to the Middle East, Ryder said. The strike group, including an aircraft carrier, naval destroyers and fighter jets, will join the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, which is equipped with similar capabilities and already located in the region.

Austin also directed the USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with cruise missiles, to join U.S. forces in the Middle East, according to Ryder.

Speaking to his Israeli counterpart on Sunday, Austin “[reiterated the U.S.] commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East,” he said in a statement.

The Pentagon had already strengthened its military “force posture” in the region in preparation “to respond to a various number of contingencies,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters last week.

Though the U.S. has vowed to defend Israel against an Iranian attack, it is simultaneously seeking diplomatic off-ramps to try to dissipate tensions between Israel and Iran. Iran and Hezbollah have planned an attack out of retaliation for the assassination of a top Hezbollah and Hamas leader in late July, the latter of whom’s death took place in the capital of Iran.

Strikes were expected last week, but Iran and Hezbollah — or Iran’s other terrorist groups in the Middle East — have not staged attacks beyond what has been routine over roughly the last year. Austin’s counterpart, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, reportedly told Austin during their Sunday phone call that an attack is expected within days, according to a source familiar with the call who spoke to Axios.