Bigger US military presence in Middle East has got into head space of Iran, Pentagon says

The increase in US military assets in the Middle East has got into the “head space of Iran”, the Pentagon has said.

“By surging capabilities into the region, by having two carriers in the Central Command [area of responsibility] … by moving destroyers closer to Israel … having a squadron of F-22s also in the region, I think that gets into the head space of Iran,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a briefing on Thursday.

She added that the increased US military presence “sends a very powerful message of deterrence”.

“And I think that gets into – you know, they see us positioning, should we need to support Israel – I'm sure that gets to their calculation,” Ms Singh said.

The US has expanded its presence in the Middle East amid fears of a spillover of the Israel-Gaza war.

In late July, Israel assassinated a commander of Lebanese Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Beirut, and is widely held responsible for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran has vowed to retaliate.

Commercial shipping and US naval vessels in the Red Sea are under frequent attack by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who are allied with Hamas in Gaza.

US bases in Iraq and Syria have been targeted by Iran-backed militias, with groups in Iraq announcing this week they were ending an informal truce over delays to the withdrawal of American troops from the country.

As of June, the US had several thousand service members stationed in the Middle East, and several thousand more on ships at sea in the region, although the numbers fluctuate, according to the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

Ms Singh said that the USS Abraham Lincoln, equipped with F-35 combat aircraft, had entered the Centcom area of responsibility.

The move was announced by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin last week.

It is part of “broad adjustments to US military posture” aimed at protecting American forces, the defence of Israel and ensuring the US is prepared to respond to a wide range of contingencies.

The USS Lincoln joins the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which was already stationed in the Middle East.