by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The United States Defense Department has ordered the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier to return home after it spent several weeks in the Middle East in case Israel needed to be defended from threatened attacks by Iran and its proxies, and to protect US troops, the Associated Press reports. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier will remain in the area.
The US has boosted its naval presence in the Middle East since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas triggered a full-scale war in Gaza which had threatened to extend across much of the rest of the region. The Islamic terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi Islamic terror group in Yemen have launched attacks against Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Supporting all these groups is Iran.
In the first direct attack by Iran on Israel, the Tehran regime launched a barrage of drones and missiles at the Jewish state in April: this was announced as retaliation for a strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria that was attributed to Israel. Iran’s attack failed to make any impact, with the US, the UK, France, and Jordan joining with Israel to intercept the missiles. Iran again threatened a massive attack against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
With tensions reaching boiling point in the region, the USS Roosevelt was later joined by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Middle East. “US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the Roosevelt to extend its deployment for a short time and remain in the region as the USS Abraham Lincoln was pushed to get to the area more quickly,” AP explained in its report.
“US commanders in the Middle East have long argued that the presence of a US aircraft carrier and the warships accompanying it has been an effective deterrent in the region, particularly for Iran,” AP noted in its analysis.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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