Hezbollah anti-ship missiles increase threats to US warships: Reuters
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After the Lebanese Resistance's Secretary-General's speech, US officials confirm that the party's arsenal proves the means to confront US warships.
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The USS Mount Whitney steams alongside the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in the Mediterranean Sea, on Oct. 3, 2023. Mount Whitney departed its port in Gaeta, Italy, on Oct. 18, to join other U.S. ships, including the Ford, in the eastern Mediterranean, the Navy said in a statement. (Tajh Payne/U.S. Navy)
The Lebanese Resistance, Hezbollah, has proved its means to deliver on Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's capabilities to confront US warships and any grave risks that could lead to any regional war, sources familiar with the group's arsenal supply said.
Last week, Sayyed Nasrallah warned Washington that his party has the necessary preparations to confront the US vessels deployed in the region since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Gaza. Sources familiar with the party's arsenal clarified that he was referring to Hezbolla's anti-ship missile capabilities.
Washington has stated that its deployment of naval forces in the Mediterranean, including two aircraft carriers and their support ships, is aimed at deterring "Iran to prevent the spread of conflicts involving groups it supports, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad". But Hezbollah perceives the presence of US warships as a direct threat.
During his speech, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the US warships in the Mediterranean "do not scare us, and will not scare us," adding "We have prepared for the fleets with which you threaten us."
A message to the #US fleets in the Mediterranean waters deployed to threaten and destabilize the region by yours truly, #Hezbollah SG Sayyed Hassan #Nasrallah. pic.twitter.com/qRBpKxuVPS
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 3, 2023
On that note, four US officials, three current and one former, said that the Lebanese Resistance built an "impressive array of weapons," which include anti-ship missiles. One official said, "We're obviously paying a lot of attention to that... and we're taking what capabilities they have seriously."
They added that the US naval power recently deployed to the region includes defenses against incoming missiles but did not elaborate.
Earlier this week, two US aircraft carrier strike groups, recently deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean, carried out a joint exercise simulating the possibility of being targeted by ballistic missiles and other aerial projectiles.
The naval war fleets were commissioned to the region by Washington to assist "Israel" after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7 left the occupation entity in a weakened state.
This exercise comes as the war on Gaza saw Israelis committing some 1,000 massacres so far, with the number of Palestinians killed so far exceeding 10,000 martyrs, the majority of whom are children and women.
A total of 11,000 US military personnel participated in the drill, while the Italian warships Fasan and Margottini, also recently dispatched by Italy to the region following the start of the battle, joined the two carrier strike groups to exercise NATO alliance integration.
“The ships and aircraft of two US Navy aircraft carrier strike groups conducted joint exercises over the last three days,” the US Sixth Fleet said on Friday.
“Sailors and naval aviators from the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) Carrier Strike Group (CSG 12) and those of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) Carrier Strike Group (CSG 2) trained on high-value unit defense, ballistic missile defense, replenishments-at-sea, cross-deck flight operations, and maritime security operations."
