The US has dispatched a guided missile submarine to the Middle East, as tensions increase in the region. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also expressed an aircraft carrier which was already running to the area would sail there more fast. The move comes in reaction to fears of a wider regional conflict, after the current assassination of senior Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. It signals the US’s determination to support and defend Israel from any attack by Iran – with Mr Austin speaking the US would “take every possible step” to defend its ally.
Iran is being closely monitored for any indication of how and when it might react to the assassination of Hamas’s chief political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July. The Iranians accused Israel of the assassination of Mr Haniyeh on their ground, and have vowed to avenge it. Israel has not remarked but is widely believed to have been behind it. In a statement, the Pentagon stated Mr Austin had dispatched the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the region. The submarine can carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are utilised to
strike land targets.
It had also summoned the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which is bringing F-35C fighter jets, to accelerate its travel there. The ship was already on its path to replace another US ship in the region. It remains ambiguous what Iran could be planning to do. Meanwhile, another possible invasion of Israel could come from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political movement in Lebanon. The group has promised to respond to the killing by Israel of senior leader Fuad Shukr, which occurred just hours before Mr Haniyeh’s assassination, in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Professor Mehran Kamrava, from Georgetown University in Qatar, told the US that publicly sending a submarine was “represented as a deterrence against Iran and Hezbollah”. But he meant that in private, “there might be some sign that Iran is actually up to something and is going to strike”. Several passenger airlines have revoked flights to airports in the region due to the perceived threat.
German airline Lufthansa stated it was suspending flights to Tel Aviv in Israel, Lebanon’s capital city Beirut, the Jordanian capital Amman, Erbil in Iraq, and the Iranian capital, Tehran, until 21 August “founded on its current security analysis”. Swiss Air has also rescinded its flights scheduled to travel to Tel Aviv and Beirut over the exact period. Meanwhile, Air France extended its break of flights to Beirut – which started on 29 July – through to Wednesday, according to the AFP news agency.
Other airlines, including AirBaltic and EasyJet, have earlier said they were suspending flights to the territory. When Iran previously established an attack on Israel following a strike on its consulate in Syria in April, it did so utilising hundreds of aerial drones and missiles. The Biden administration considers a ceasefire in Gaza that frees Israeli hostages would be the most useful way to calm anxieties in the region and has called for talks to resume on Thursday.
Hamas reacted to US efforts to revive the ceasefire discussions by saying Israel should be forced to execute the deal already on the table. Hamas stated that any resumption of ceasefire discussions about the conflict in Gaza should be established on its previous position rather than carrying new rounds of negotiations. However, its statement suggested an agreement in principle to participate. Washington has earlier blamed Hamas for the collapse of negotiations. But Israeli press reports state the US increasingly witnesses Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as partially responsible because he is blamed for appeasing far-right members of his coalition who object to a deal.
