WATCH: Pentagon holds briefing as U.S. F-22s arrive in Middle East amid heightened tensions

U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jets have arrived in the Mideast from a base in the United Kingdom, authorities said Thursday.

Watch the Pentagon briefing in our player above.

U.S. Central Command posted images online of the fighters, saying their presence in the region was “to address threats posed by Iran and Iranian-backed groups.”

The F-22s come after what Iran has described an Israeli assassination operation that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week. Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the killing, which has inflamed regional tensions and comes after the Israelis also recently killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon.

Central Command did not identify where the fighters landed, likely out of deference to the host country amid the regional tensions.

On Monday, several U.S. personnel were injured in a suspected rocket attack at a military base in Iraq, in what has been a recent uptick in strikes on American forces by Iranian-backed militias.

“The United States will not tolerate attacks on our personnel in the region,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. “And we remain ready to deploy on short notice to meet the evolving threats to our security, our partners or our interests.”