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Pentagon chief deploys more troops to the Middle East
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says he has directed the “deployment of additional capabilities” to the Middle East over the weekend.
“Protecting US forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” he said in a post on X.
The announcement came amid reports that the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz had left Southeast Asia after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, and is on its way to the Middle East. The Nimitz will be joining the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group, which is currently in the Arabian Sea.
Trump to hold meeting with NSC as US sends additional forces to Middle East
There are reports by US media that Donald Trump has requested the National Security Council to convene in the situation room as he returns early from the G7 summit in Canada.
Trump’s early departure on Monday evening from the G7 came as US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier in the day that he had ordered the deployment of additional US military capabilities to the Middle East.
Hegseth did not disclose the type or size of the US force that would be sent to the region. But the Reuters news agency reported the movement of a large number of US military refuelling aircraft and an aircraft carrier to the Middle East.
The aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, was reported to be leaving the Southeast Asia region after cancelling a scheduled visit to Vietnam and was tracked heading through the Malacca Strait towards the Indian Ocean, according to Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking site.
‘Blow-by-blow’ fight between Israel, Iran to continue for near term: Analyst
Colin Clarke, a senior research fellow at the New York-based Soufan Center, said that the “blow-by-blow” fighting between Israel and Iran will likely continue over the next 24 to 48 hours at least.
“The United States is moving a lot of military muscle into the region to help the Israelis, and so I think we are likely to see continued fighting and escalation, at least for the near term,” Clarke told Al Jazeera a little earlier.
“Beyond that, President Trump has expressed some optimism that the Iranians are willing and ready to come to the negotiating table. But I have my own doubts about that based on what I’ve seen,” he said.
“It’s still too early for a formal battle damage assessment. But symbolically, both sides are absorbing blows – pretty significant blows. We’ve seen the recent Iranian attack against Israeli energy infrastructure in Haifa. And the Israelis, now with air superiority and air dominance, have had their pick of going after various surface-to-air missiles and Iranian anti-missile defence systems. So this is a real knock-down, drag-out conflict. It’s really what we’ve all been hoping to avoid since October 7, 2023.”
