JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - The Pentagon has deployed an additional carrier strike group led by USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to the Middle East amid rising tensions in the region.
'Following completion of a scheduled exercise in the Indo-Pacific region, the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group will arrive in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,' Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
The U.S. Navy's Nimitz-class super carrier, accompanied by Carrier Air Wing, cruiser and destroyer vessels, will join the Harry. S Truman Carrier Strike Group, which is currently leading an airstrike mission targeting the Houthis in Yemen.
As Vinson departs from the Western Pacific, the Nimitz Strike Group led by aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is being deployed to the region 'to preserve our warfighting advantage in the Indo-Pacific,' Parnell said.
To complement the CENTCOM maritime posture, the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets to further reinforce the U.S. military's defensive air-support capabilities.
The United States and its partners remain committed to regional security in the CENTCOM AOR and are prepared to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the region, the Pentagon says. Secretary Hegseth made it clear that if Iran or its proxies threaten American personnel and interests in the region, the United States will take 'decisive action' to defend its people.
The Pentagon is bolstering American military presence around Iran as its biggest ally in the Middle East Israel stepped up airstrikes in Lebanon and announced expansion of military operation in Gaza.
Despite the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut Tuesday.
Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday that large areas of Palestinian land would be 'incorporated into Israel's security zones,' and Gaza's population will be evacuated from combat zones in 'large-scale.'
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