CNN
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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and accelerated the arrival of a carrier battle group in the region in anticipation of an expected Iranian attack on Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement on Sunday evening.

The USS Georgia, a nuclear submarine armed with cruise missiles, has been operating in the Mediterranean in recent days after completing training near Italy, according to the Navy.

Austin ordered the submarine into Middle Eastern waters, the Pentagon said. The movements of US missile submarines are rarely made public, and the nuclear-powered ships operate in almost complete secrecy.

The announcement of a submarine movement sends a clear deterrent message to Iran and its proxies, which the US and Israel believe are preparing for a possible major attack on Israel.

The threatened Iranian attack would be a response to Israel’s assassination last month of the top military commander of Iran’s most powerful proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon. The next day, Israel is said to have assassinated Hamas’s political leader in Tehran, although Israel has not admitted to it.

The Israeli military reported on Sunday evening that about 30 rockets had been fired from Lebanon, but some of them fell in open areas. No injuries were reported. Hezbollah said overnight that the rockets were intended to support the “steadfast Palestinian people” in Gaza and in retaliation for Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.

Austin’s announcement came during a phone call between the defense secretary and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant. The two discussed “efforts to deter aggression by Iran, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and other Iran-aligned groups in the region,” the transcript said.

Austin also ordered the aircraft carrier battle group USS Abraham Lincoln to speed up its transit to the Middle East, the Pentagon said. The defense secretary had ordered the Lincoln battle group to the Middle East on Aug. 2, but its ships stopped at ports in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands en route, the Navy said.

The Lincoln battle group consists of the aircraft carrier, which operates with F-35C stealth fighter jets, as well as several destroyers.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier battle group has been operating in Middle Eastern waters for several weeks, giving the US a formidable presence in the region. The USS Wasp amphibious battle group, which includes thousands of Marines capable of special operations, is already deployed in the Mediterranean.