United States: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin deployed the guided-missile submarine to the Middle East and moved the arrival of a carrier strike group ahead of an Iranian attack on Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement Sunday.
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The USS Georgia, a missile-equipped nuclear-powered submarine, was in the Mediterranean recently conducting operations, as the Navy put it, after conducting exercises near Italy.
Austin directed the submarine to the Middle East’s waters, the Pentagon reported. Information about US missile submarines’ movement is highly classified, and the newer generation of nuclear-powered submarines works in extreme secrecy, as CNN reported.
A clear message of deterrence to Iran
In this case, the announcement of the submarine’s movement is a clear message of deterrence to Iran and its proxies, whom the US and Israel deemed are planning for a large-scale attack on Israel.
The retaliatory Iranian attack would have been sparked when last month Israel assassinated the top military commander for Iran’s most influential proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.
The following day in Tehran, Hamas’s political leader is generally thought to have been killed by Israel, although Israel has not acknowledged this incident.
The Israeli Defence Forces report
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday evening that approximately thirty rockets were fired from Lebanon, but some landed in fields, and no one was hurt.
Hezbollah declared last night that the rockets were in response to Israeli operations of intimidation in southern Lebanon and defense of “steadfast Palestinian people” in Gaza.
The readout said Austin’s announcement was a call between the defense secretary and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.
Here, the two spoke regarding “efforts to deter aggression by Iran, Lebanese Hizballah, and other Iran-aligned groups across the region,” as CNN reported.
The Pentagon also said Austin directed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to ramp up its tempo toward the Middle East on August 2. The defense secretary directed the Lincoln strike group to the Middle East. Still, the Navy said its ships conducted port visits in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.