Following Hezbollah attack, two US aircraft carriers will remain in the Middle East

The attack on Israel over the weekend by Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah proved to be mainly unsuccessful, leading the US Pentagon to decide to prolong the use of two US aircraft carriers.

In the event that a full-scale Middle East conflict breaks out, U.S. Central Command will have access to two carriers and their warships thanks to the decision to keep the second carrier in the Middle East.

Early in July, the TR reached the Middle East, and last week, Abraham Lincoln, a fellow carrier, too made its way there. Over the weekend, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made the announcement in a statement. Earlier this summer, the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower—whose deployment to the area had itself been repeatedly extended—was replaced by Theodore Roosevelt.

The additions are a component of the US military presence in the area this month, which aims to prevent a more serious confrontation between Israel, Iran, and its allies. A second fighter aircraft squadron, along with additional resources, has been dispatched to the area in addition to Lincoln. The ballistic missile submarine Georgia is still on its way to CENTCOM, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon Press Secretary, told reporters on Monday.

Ryder merely mentioned that Austin took the choice to do so over the weekend; he did not specify the length of the Roosevelt's extension or the precise moment the decision was made. The goal of the surge is to offer some gray-hull deterrence following two Israeli strikes in late July that escalated regional tensions: one in Tehran that killed Hamas' senior leader and the other in the capital of Lebanon as revenge for an earlier Hezbollah strike.

Since then, Iran and Hezbollah have been threatening retaliatory strikes against the United States and its allies in the region. The Israeli military claims that the first occurred this past weekend, when more than 230 rockets were fired from Lebanon. Israel's preemptive strikes mostly prevented the onslaught, and both sides then indicated that they were deescalating.