Mossad said to tip US on Iranian threat to target its forces, leading to deployments

A US defense official says the deployments of an aircraft carrier strike group and land-based bombers to the Middle East are in response to indications that Iran and its proxy forces were preparing to possibly attack US forces in the region.

Israel’s Channel 13 reports that the information that led to that assessment came from Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

The US defense official tells The Associated Press that the Pentagon approved the deployments of the USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group of ships and combat aircraft.

The official says US forces at sea and on land were thought to be the potential targets. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity.

A White House statement says the military resources were deployed to send a message to Iran that “unrelenting force” will meet any attack on US interests or those of its allies.