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Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The United States is sending additional naval resources to the Middle East as it braces for the likelihood of a retaliatory attack by Iran after the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran. "Secretary [of Defense Lloyd] Austin has ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command regions," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement issued by the Pentagon.
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"The Department is also taking steps to increase our readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense."
The Navy's USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group will replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt to "maintain a carrier strike group presence in the Middle East."
The USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanied ships were sailing off the coast of Hawaii on Saturday.
Austin has also ordered an additional fighter squadron deployed to the Middle East.
The changes come after Hamas' political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated Wednesday in Tehran.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said a "short-range projectile" fired from outside his guesthouse is what killed Haniyeh.
The United States and its allies almost immediately began bracing for retaliation after Haniyeh's alleged assassination.
"We've heard the supreme leader loud and clear that he intends to avenge this killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran, and that they want to conduct another attack on Israel," National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby told CNN in an interview.
"We can't just assume that we are also potentially going to be victims of that kind of an attack, so we've got to make sure we've got the right resources and capabilities in the region."
U.S. airlines began canceling flights to Tel Aviv as the federal government raised its travel advisory to level four, warning citizens in southern Lebanon to leave.
"Do Not Travel to Lebanon due to rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. If you are in Lebanon, be prepared to shelter in place should the situation deteriorate," the U.S. State Department warned Wednesday.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is a Nimitz class nuclear-powered carrier and was launched in 1988. The ship's home port is Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt has been operating in the Middle East since mid-July as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian. The multi-nation mission's goal is to protect merchant traffic in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, primarily from missile attacks by Houthi militants stationed in Lebanon.
