U.S. Moves a Guided-Missile Submarine to the Middle East Amid Fears of Escalation

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia to the Middle East, underscoring the threat of the regional crisis involving Israel and Iran that has threatened to spark a wider war, the Pentagon said.

On Sunday, Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, the third call the two are known to have held in a week, as fears rose of an escalation in the conflict. In the call, Austin “reiterated the United States’ commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel,” according to a summary provided by the Pentagon press secretary, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder.

Ryder’s announcement said that Austin had moved the USS Georgia submarine to the Middle East was rare, as the Pentagon seldom talks about the movements of its submarine fleet. The Georgia can fire cruise missiles and carry teams of Navy SEAL commandos.

Ryder noted that Austin had already ordered additional combat aircraft and missile-shooting warships to the region. The orders came in response to threats from Iran and its proxies in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Yemen to attack Israel to avenge the assassination of a top Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, Iran, on July 31.

Austin has also directed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, equipped with F-35 fighter jets, to accelerate its arrival in the region, joining the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier and its accompanying warships already in the Gulf of Oman.

The USS Lincoln, which was in the Sulu Sea near the Philippines on Monday, was originally expected to relieve the USS Roosevelt at the end of this month. But the warship is now anticipated to arrive in the region in the next two or three days, and could overlap with the Roosevelt for at least a couple of weeks, doubling the carrier firepower in the region.

“Are we trying to send a message? Absolutely,” Ryder told reporters Monday. “We’re looking to de-escalate tensions.”

A statement from the Israeli government said Gallant had spoken to Austin about the Israeli military’s “readiness and capabilities in the face of threats posed by Iran and its regional proxies.”

The Israeli defense minister also discussed “the urgency of achieving an agreement for the release of hostages and thanked the U.S. administration for its leadership and commitment to this issue,” the statement said. The United States and Arab mediators are preparing to present what they have called a “final” proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza at a meeting Thursday in the Middle East that Israel has said its negotiators will attend. Hamas has not indicated whether its representatives will be at the meeting.

The call between Austin and Gallant came a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a school compound in northern Gaza where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, an attack that Gaza authorities said killed dozens of people. Austin used the call to once again underscore the importance of “mitigating civilian harm” during Israeli operations in the enclave, Ryder said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .