The United States will deploy additional Navy and Air Force assets to the Middle East to enhance protection of U.S. troops in the region and defense of Israel amid rising threats from Iran and Iranian-backed militias.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Friday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, to maintain presence in the region.

Austin ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command regions, as well as an additional fighter squadron to the Middle East.
 
The Pentagon added that it is also taking steps to increase readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense.

The latest move comes after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, on Wednesday during a suspected Israeli strike in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Hamas and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps(IRGC) of Iran suspect Israel to have orchestrated the attack, and warned of retaliation.