The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729) (Credit: U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James Kimber)

By  Gary Raynaldo   –  DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is sending a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and accelerating transit of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the region amid growing tensions between Iran and Israel, the Pentagon said Sunday.  The move comes on reports that Israel expects a major Iranian attack to be launched within days. Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement that Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and “reiterated the United States’ 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 in light of escalating regional tensions.”  Defense Secretary Austin recently ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, operating near Guam, to head to the Middle East to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The carrier has F-35 and F/A-18 fighter jets on board.  Austin ordered the aircraft carrier acceleration and the USS Georgia guided missile nuclear submarine to the Central Command region after speaking by phone with Gallant.

Israel has been bracing for possible retaliation from Iran in response to the assassination of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran last month after attending the inauguration ceremony for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.  Meanwhile, more than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike Saturday on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City.