A US aircraft carrier and its supporting warships have arrived in the Middle East, raising fears of a potential American attack on Iran, which has stated it is prepared to retaliate against any American aggression.
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers have crossed into the Middle East region, officials said on Monday, which comes under the US military's Central Command.
The Lincoln's strike group has arrived in the region, US Central Command said in a post on X, adding the ships were "currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability".
Last week, US President Donald Trump said that Washington was sending a "massive fleet" to the region "just in case".
The deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group dramatically boosts American firepower in the region.
The United States backed and briefly joined Israel's 12-day war against Iran in June, and while Trump last week appeared to step back from his threats of new military attacks, he has never ruled the option out.
The warships began deploying from the Asia-Pacific region earlier this month, as tensions between Iran and the United States escalated following a crackdown on protests across Iran.
Trump had repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iran continued to target protesters, but the countrywide demonstrations have since abated.
Iran stated that the protests initially arose organically but were subsequently commandeered by agents aligned with Israel and the United States.
Iran warns of ‘regret-inducing’ response
The US military has in the past surged forces into the Middle East at times of heightened tensions, moves that were often defensive.
However, the US military staged a major buildup last year ahead of its June strikes against Iran's nuclear programme.
In addition to the carrier and warships, the Pentagon is also moving fighter jets and air-defence systems to the Middle East.
Over the weekend, the US military announced that it would carry out an exercise in the region "to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower."
A senior Iranian official said last week that Tehran would consider any attack as an "all-out-war against us."
Iran's foreign ministry repeated that warned on Monday, cautioning of a "comprehensive and regret-inducing response to any aggression".
Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran was "confident in its own capabilities".
In apparent reference to the Lincoln, he added: "The arrival of such a battleship is not going to affect Iran's determination and seriousness to defend the Iranian nation."
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates said on Monday that it will not let its airspace, territory or territorial waters be used for any hostile military actions against Iran.
The US military's Al Dhafra Air Base is located south of the UAE capital Abu Dhabi and has been a critical US Air Force hub in support of key missions against the Islamic State, as well as reconnaissance deployments across the region.
Also on Monday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said that any attack on the group's backer Tehran would also be an attack on Hezbollah, and warned that any new war on Iran would ignite the region.
"Faced with aggression that does not distinguish between us... we are targeted by any potential aggression and determined to defend ourselves," Qassem said in a televised address to supporters at a solidarity rally for Iran.
"A war on Iran this time will ignite the region," he warned.
"We will choose at that time how to act... but we are not neutral," he said, adding that "on how we act, these are details that the battle determines, and we will decide according to the interests at stake".
