The United States is strengthening its presence in the Middle East to prevent the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas from spreading and to dissuade Iran from getting involved.
The most recent and modern US aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford – the largest in the world – is already located in the eastern Mediterranean and will be joined by a second US aircraft carrier there Uss Eisenhower in the next 10 days.
Although the White House states that there are “no plans or intentions” for their use, US military assets are still capable of providing air support to protect US national security interests if deemed necessary. The United States also has a number of bases in the Middle East with troops, fighter planes and warships.
The US Secretary of State Antony blinken, who spoke in Cairo on Sunday, issued a warning to Iran in a message: “When it comes to Israel's security, we have Israel's back."
He said the deployment of two carrier strike groups was not done to provoke anyone, but only to send a very clear message of deterrence: “No one should do anything that expands this conflict in any way, or that promotes aggression against Israel from any other direction.”
The Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian he, however, warned that “the hands of all stakeholders in the region are on the trigger“, while the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York said that if Israel does not attack Gaza, its interests or its citizens, the Iranian armed forces will not engage militarily.
Israel, for its part, has vowed to annihilate Hamas after the massacre of 7 October which resulted in the killing of 1.300 people and the kidnapping of 150 hostages.
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