US defense officials are beginning to conspire to escalate the crisis in the Middle East further after a black rocket wounded several soldiers at a military base in Iraq on Monday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Monday night that the United States was deploying additional fighter jets, aircraft carrier strike groups, ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the region as Israel awaits retaliation from Iran for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“These posture adjustments add to the wide range of capabilities the U.S. military maintains in the region, including the USS Wasp Amphibious Ready Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit operating in the Eastern Mediterranean,” a Defense Department spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris held a general meeting in the situation room to discuss a response to the attack on the Ain al-Assad base.
The base in the west of the country was attacked by two Soviet-made Katyusha rockets amid rising tensions in the Middle East, with Iran threatening to attack Israel as early as Monday night.
U.S. defense officials are beginning to plan for the Middle East crisis to escalate further after a black missile wounded several soldiers at a military base in Iraq on Monday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Monday night that the United States was deploying additional fighters, aircraft carrier strike groups, ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the region.
NatSec officials told Biden and Harris that it was not yet clear when Iran’s retaliatory strike would occur. Axios reported.
Officials told the president and vice president that they could potentially see two waves of attacks, one by Hezbollah and one by Iran.
However, intelligence services were unclear about who would strike first or what form the attack would take, calling it a “work in progress.”
“(Biden and Harris) discussed the steps we are taking to defend our forces and respond to any attacks against our personnel in the manner and location of our choosing,” the White House said in a statement.
Israel Katz, the Israeli foreign minister, has said he has the authority to claim that Iran is prepared to attack the Jewish state, according to the The New York Post.
Haniyeh’s assassination occurred A day after an Israeli attack on Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander of the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
The rocket fire on the US base is the latest in a series of attacks on the base in western Iraq, which houses US troops as well as personnel from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group.
The base in the west of the country was attacked by two Soviet-made Katyusha rockets amid rising tensions in the Middle East, with Iran threatening to attack Israel later in the evening.
The Department of Defense also confirmed the severity of the attack.
“Today there was an alleged rocket attack against US and coalition forces” at the base, a US defence spokesman said. “The first indications are that several US personnel were injured.”
“Base personnel are conducting a post-attack damage assessment” and updates will be provided as more information becomes available, the spokesperson added.
An Iraqi military source had earlier said multiple rockets had been fired at the base, some of which landed inside it and another hit a nearby village but caused no damage.
A commander of a pro-Iranian armed group told AFP that at least two rockets hit the base, without specifying who had carried out the attack.
Another source within the group and a security source confirmed that an attack had taken place.
Such attacks were common at the beginning of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, but have virtually ceased since then.
The latest rocket fire comes as fears mount of an attack by Iran and its allies against Israel in retaliation for the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah figures in attacks in recent weeks attributed to or claimed by Israel.
Israel expects retaliation from Iran for killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh last week
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, however, Iranian forces in Iraq and Syria frequently attack U.S. bases during times of heightened tension.
Joe Biden was already scheduled to meet with his national security team in the Situation Room today, as the outgoing president seeks to calm tensions between Israel and Iran after the Jewish state assassinated Hamas leaders in Tehran and Beirut, Lebanon, last week.
The Islamic Republic could attack Israel in the next 24 to 48 hours following a major Hezbollah attack that left two IDF soldiers wounded, senior Western diplomats have warned.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the G7 yesterday that a strike was imminent in response to Israel’s killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, Axios reported.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III reportedly spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, on Sunday to assure the Jewish state of U.S. support.
It would be the second time during the escalating Middle East crisis that Iran has directly attacked Israel, the first being in April, when it sent in a salvo of missiles and drones overnight.
Iran has given clear signals that it intends to strike its enemy, saying it has the “legal right” to respond to Haniyeh’s killing. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a news conference: “No one has the right to doubt Iran’s legal right to punish the Zionist regime.”
The head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami, also threatened Israel, warning that the state was “digging its own grave” by continuing its war against the Hamas terror group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his nation is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is preparing to attack Israel imminently, claiming he has the “legal right” to respond to Haniyeh’s assassination.
Footage shows the Iron Dome system firing defensive missiles (pictured) to intercept the bombardment amid ongoing clashes between Israeli troops and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.
“They will see the result of their mistake. They will see when, how and where they will get their answer,” Salami said during a speech.
Iran’s threat comes just hours after Hezbollah, backed by the Iranian regime, launched a silo of 30 missiles from Lebanon towards the Upper Galilee.
Rising tensions between Israel, Hezbollah and Iran have raised growing fears of an all-out war breaking out in the Middle East between Israel and Tehran’s proxies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his nation is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran, adding during a Cabinet meeting on Sunday that Israel is prepared for any scenario.
Netanyahu has also been accused of not being “sincerely interested in a ceasefire” as Hamas’ Haniyeh was the terror group’s chief ceasefire negotiator.
The United States said on Sunday during the G7 conference call that its decision to increase its military capacity in the region was to strengthen defense.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also captured 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 who the military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has left at least 39,583 people dead in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry, which gave no details on civilian and militant deaths.