Pentagon Will Send Additional Fighter Jets and Destroyers to Middle East

The Pentagon has said it will deploy additional resources to the Middle East in the coming months, as concern grows that Iran may soon retaliate for Israeli strikes on its territory.Maj.Gen.

Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that Defense Secretary Lloyd J.Austin III had ordered the deployment of fighter aircraft, ballistic missile defense destroyers and B-52 long-range bombers, to assist in the defense of Israel and other U.S.

interests in the region.“Secretary Austin continues to make clear that should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people,” General Ryder said in a statement late Friday.Israel struck targets inside Iran late last month in retaliation for an Oct.1 attack that Iran launched on central Israel.

Iran initially appeared to play down the damage caused by the Israeli strike, raising hopes that it might de-escalate the situation rather than pursue a new cycle of retaliation.But in recent days, Iranian officials have said their country would strike back.On Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel would receive “a jaw-breaking response,” according to Iranian state media.His comments came one day after two other Iranian officials said that Iran would retaliate, with one telling state news media that a response would be “definite” and a second saying Iran would launch “a fierce” response.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....