Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized military dependents to evacuate the Middle East, as tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Iran raise concerns of a wider war in the region.
As reported by Fox News Digital, the order impacts the U.S. Central Command, which includes bases in countries like Iraq, Syria, and Bahrain.
"The safety and security of our service members and their families remains our highest priority and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is monitoring the developing tension in the Middle East. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the CENTCOM AOR," a defense official said.
As tensions continue to mount, Hegseth announced he is deploying additional U.S. forces to strengthen America's "defensive posture," a sign that the White House is preparing for the conflict to escalate.
“Protecting US forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” Hegseth wrote on X.
The newly deployed forces include an aircraft carrier and several refueling aircraft, Reuters reported.
Tensions in the Middle East are surging after Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, killing top scientists and military officials. An Israeli plan to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader was reportedly vetoed by President Trump, who nevertheless has kept the threat of force on the table.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote in a post on Tuesday.
"He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin."
Trump's sharpening tone comes as he has lost patience with Iran's failure to negotiate a new nuclear agreement.
President Trump has maintained that the region won't be stable if Iran obtains a nuclear bomb, and he has not ruled out the chance of the U.S. getting involved in a regional conflict.
"We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,” Trump told ABC News’s Rachel Scott on Sunday.
The Israel-Iran standoff has opened up a rift in the MAGA movement, with dovish populists accusing President Trump of abandoning his pledge to stay out of new wars and Republican hawks praising Trump for taking a hard line on Iran.
Trump left the G7 summit early on Tuesday to address the crisis from the White House.
