US sends submarine to Middle East as tensions rise

As tensions rise in the region, the United States has sent a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said that an aircraft carrier that was already heading to the area would get there more quickly.

The move is a response to fears of a wider regional conflict, following the recent assassinations of senior Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.

It demonstrates the US determination to help defend Israel from any attack by Iran, with Austin saying the US will “take every measure possible” to defend its ally.

Iran is being closely monitored for any indications of how and when it might respond to the assassination of Hamas’s top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on July 31.

The Iranians have blamed Israel for Mr. Haniyeh’s assassination on their soil and vowed to punish it. Israel has not commented, but is widely believed to be behind it.

In a statement on Sunday, The Pentagon said Mr Austin sent the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia to the region.

He also ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which carries F-35C fighter jets, to expedite its journey there. The ship was already en route to replace another U.S. ship in the region.

It is not yet clear what Iran is planning to do.

Meanwhile, another possible attack against Israel could come from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political movement in Lebanon.

The group vowed to respond to Israel’s killing of top commander Fuad Shukr, which occurred hours before Haniyeh’s assassination in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Professor Mehran Kamrava, of Georgetown University in Qatar, said the US’s public dispatch of a submarine was “intended as a deterrent against Iran and Hezbollah”.

But he privately hinted that “there may be some indication that Iran is actually up to something and is about to strike.”

The Biden administration believes a ceasefire in Gaza that frees Israeli hostages would be the best way to calm tensions in the region and has called for talks to resume on Thursday.

But Sunday evening, Hamas has responded to US attempts to resume ceasefire talks by saying Israel should be forced to implement the agreement already on the table.

Hamas has said that any resumption of ceasefire talks on the Gaza conflict should be based on its previous position, rather than on new rounds of negotiations.

However, his statement indicated an agreement in principle to participate.

Washington had previously blamed Hamas for the failure of the negotiations.

But according to Israeli press reports, the United States increasingly believes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is partly to blame, accusing him of appeasing far-right members of his coalition who oppose a deal.

Last week, for the first time, the White House openly criticized one of these coalition leaders, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Mr. Smotrich had urged Israel to reject the U.S. push for ceasefire talks, saying it would be a capitulation to Hamas. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Mr. Smotrich was “completely wrong” and accused him of making false claims.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany reiterated their calls to resume ceasefire talks.

“We agree that there can be no further delay,” read a statement by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“We are working with all parties to prevent escalation and will spare no effort to reduce tensions and find a path to stability.”