NEW YORK, August 22. /TASS/. The Abraham Lincoln Nimitz-class aircraft carrier of the US Navy with F-35C and F/A-18 Block III fighter jets arrived in the zone of responsibility of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which includes the Middle East, Central Africa and East Africa.
"USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), equipped with F-35C and F/A-18 Block III fighters, entered the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility," CENTCOM said on the X social network.
The flagship of Carrier Strike Group 3 is accompanied by Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21 and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9, CENTCOM added.
Another US aircraft carrier, the Theodore Roosevelt, is already deployed in the Middle East.
Another round of escalation in the Middle East followed the violent death of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the elimination of Hezbollah top military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah held Israel responsible and asserted that the attacks will be met with retaliation.
The Jewish state never commented on Haniyeh’s killing, while it claimed that the attack on Shukr was in response to the strike on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights which killed 12 people. However, Hezbollah denied involvement in the attack.