Defense secretary orders submarine to Middle East, accelerates arrival of strike group ahead of anticipated Iran attack
CNN
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East and accelerated the arrival of a carrier strike group to the region ahead of an anticipated Iranian attack against Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement Sunday evening.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East and accelerated the arrival of a carrier strike group to the region ahead of an anticipated Iranian attack against Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement Sunday evening. The USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with cruise missiles, was operating in the Mediterranean Sea in recent days, according to the Navy, having just completed training near Italy. Austin ordered the submarine into the waters of the Middle East, the Pentagon said. The movement of US missile submarines is rarely revealed publicly, and the nuclear-powered vessels operate in near-complete secrecy. The announcement of a submarine’s movement is a clear message of deterrence to Iran and its proxies, who the US and Israel believe are preparing for a potential large-scale attack on Israel. The looming Iranian attack would come in response to Israel last month killing the top military commander for Iran’s most powerful proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon. The next day, Israel is widely believed to have assassinated Hamas’ political leader in Tehran, which Israel has not admitted to carrying out. The Israel Defense Forces reported Sunday evening that around 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon, though some fell into open areas and no injuries were reported. Hezbollah said overnight that the rockets were in support of “steadfast Palestinian people” in Gaza and in retaliation to Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.
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