US Navy assembles 12 warships in Middle East

The United States has sent 12 warships and aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt to the Middle East in preparation for a possible war between Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iran and Israel, the Washington Post has reported.

This comes after Israel assassinated Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon on Tuesday and is thought to be behind the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran on Wednesday. Iran has vowed to retaliate.

Some 4,000 Marines and sailors are onboard the vessels the US has assembled, according to the Washington Post, which quoted an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The USS Theodore Roosevelt was in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday with six US destroyers: The USS Cole, the USS John S. McCain, the USS Daniel Inouye, the USS Russell, the USS Michael Murphy and the USS Laboon. In the eastern Mediterranean were the three amphibious ships — the USS Wasp, the USS Oak Hill and the USS New York — and two destroyers, the USS Bulkeley and the USS Roosevelt,” the paper said.

No ships have been positioned in the Red Sea, the waterway guarded by Yemen’s Houthi group.

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