US military facilities in the region could become victims of attacks.
White House National Security Advisor John Kirby said that the United States is ready to move additional military resources to the Middle East if necessary.
He said this in a comment CNN.
Without going into detail, John Kirby said the U.S. is constantly reviewing its force posture in the Middle East to make sure it has what it needs “to protect ourselves, our forces, our assets, and our allies and partners like Israel.”
“We've heard very clearly from the [Iranian] supreme leader that he intends to avenge the assassination of the Hamas leader in Tehran, and that they [Iran and its proxies in the region] want to carry out another attack on Israel. We can't just assume that we're going to be potentially targeted by that kind of attack. So we have to make sure that we have the proper resources and capabilities in the region. The Defense Department is working on that. I’m simply not in a position to talk about it in detail right now,” he stressed.
When asked what resources would be transferred to the Middle East, John Kirby said that it would likely be both troops and equipment.
The current number of US military personnel in the Middle East is 57,000.
The New York Times reported, citing sources in US military circles, that additional combat aircraft may appear in the region.
According to one of the publication’s interlocutors, the necessary measures are being taken to increase the combat readiness and protect US troops and their allies from any threats from Iran and related paramilitary forces groups.
The question of how many aircraft will be sent has not yet been decided: the support must be calibrated in order to, on the one hand, quickly allocate a sufficient number of aircraft for the defense of Israel, and on the other, not to create the impression of an escalation of the conflict.
Recall that Israel's war in the Gaza Strip could escalate into a full-fledged Middle East conflict, since Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already ordered an attack to be prepared in response to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
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