The increase in US military assets in the Middle East has got into the “head space of Iran”, the Pentagon has said.
“By surging capabilities into the region, by having two carriers in the Central Command [area of responsibility] … by moving destroyers closer to Israel … having a squadron of F-22s also in the region, I think that gets into the head space of Iran,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a briefing on Thursday.
She added that the increased US military presence “sends a very powerful message of deterrence”.
“And I think that gets into – you know, they see us positioning, should we need to support Israel – I'm sure that gets to their calculation,” Ms Singh said.
The US has expanded its presence in the Middle East amid fears of a spillover of the Israel-Gaza war.
In late July, Israel assassinated a commander of Lebanese Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Beirut, and is widely held responsible for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran has vowed to retaliate.
Commercial shipping and US naval vessels in the Red Sea are under frequent attack by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who are allied with Hamas in Gaza.
US bases in Iraq and Syria have been targeted by Iran-backed militias, with groups in Iraq announcing this week they were ending an informal truce over delays to the withdrawal of American troops from the country.
As of June, the US had several thousand service members stationed in the Middle East, and several thousand more on ships at sea in the region, although the numbers fluctuate, according to the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
Ms Singh said that the USS Abraham Lincoln, equipped with F-35 combat aircraft, had entered the Centcom area of responsibility.
The move was announced by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin last week.
It is part of “broad adjustments to US military posture” aimed at protecting American forces, the defence of Israel and ensuring the US is prepared to respond to a wide range of contingencies.
The USS Lincoln joins the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which was already stationed in the Middle East.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
DSC Eagles 23 Dubai Hurricanes 36
Eagles
Tries: Bright, O’Driscoll
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey 3
Hurricanes
Tries: Knight 2, Lewis, Finck, Powell, Perry
Cons: Powell 3
