US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Monday the deployment of additional American defensive capabilities to the Middle East to protect US forces and assets in the region as the Israel-Iran conflict escalates.
“Protecting US forces is our top priority, and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” Hegseth said in a statement posted on the social media platform X.
Though he did not specify the nature of the deployments, US officials confirmed that several key naval and air force assets have been repositioned to respond to the escalating security situation.
AirNav Systems, a flight tracking website, said more than 31 US Air Force refuelling aircraft — primarily KC-135s and KC-46s — left the United States on Sunday, heading east. The US officials declined to comment on the number of aircraft, Reuters reported.
“The sudden eastward deployment of over two dozen US Air Force tankers is not business as usual. It’s a clear signal of strategic readiness,” said Eric Schouten at Dyami Security Intelligence.
“Whether it’s about supporting Israel, preparing for long-range operations, logistics is key, this move shows the US is positioning itself for rapid escalation if tensions with Iran spill over.”
AirNav systems said US military flights had landed in Europe, including at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and airports in the United Kingdom, Estonia, and Greece.
The United States already has a sizeable force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops in the region, including air defence systems, fighter aircraft and warships that can help bring down missiles.
Over the weekend, two US Navy destroyers — the USS The Sullivans and the USS Arleigh Burke — successfully intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles, according to a US defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Sullivans and the USS Thomas Hudner are currently in the Mediterranean, while the Arleigh Burke has moved away from the area. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier is in the Arabian Sea with the four warships in its strike group. They are not participating in the defence of Israel.
The USS Nimitz has been long scheduled to take over for the Carl Vinson and is heading west from the Indo-Pacific region.
Additionally, the US Air Force has moved refuelling tanker aircraft to the Middle East – critical support assets for extended air operations including evacuations and potential fighter jet missions.
The strategic movements give President Donald Trump a wider range of military options amid ongoing missile exchanges between Israel and Iran. However, Trump declined to elaborate on what might prompt direct US military involvement.
“I don’t want to talk about that” Trump said during a meeting with the Canadian prime minister at the G7 summit. “They should talk, and they should talk immediately,” he said, urging Iran to return to negotiations over its nuclear program.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, appeared to make a veiled outreach to the US to step in and negotiate an end to dayslong hostilities between Israel and Iran.
In a post on X, Araghchi wrote that if Trump is “genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential.”
With inputs from Agencies
