The US has sent a guided missile submarine to the Middle East as tensions grow in the region. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also said an aircraft carrier which was already heading to the area would sail there more quickly.

The move comes in response to fears of a wider regional conflict, after the recent assassination of senior Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.

It signals the US’s determination to help defend Israel from any attack by Iran – with Austin saying US would “take every possible step” to defend its ally.

Iran is being closely watched for any indication of how and when it might respond to the assassination of Hamas’s top political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, reports the BBC.

The Iranians blamed Israel for the assassination of Haniyeh on their soil, and have vowed to punish it. Israel has not commented but is widely believed to have been behind it.