The United States announced today, Sunday, that it will continue sending additional forces to the region and that it is preparing for all possibilities, while international calls for de-escalation continue amid fears of a broad military confrontation between Iran and Israel in light of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

White House National Security Council communications official John Kirby told Fox News that Washington is moving an aircraft carrier to the Middle East for what he called "purely defensive reasons" and that the overall goal is to reduce tensions in the region and that it is trying to prepare for any scenario in the Middle East by warning its citizens and urging them to leave Lebanon.

"We have to make sure that we are prepared, that we have the capabilities to assist Israel and defend our people and our interests," Kirby told Fox News, noting that Washington still believes that a ceasefire in Gaza is the best way to end the war.

In turn, Jonathan Finer, Deputy National Security Advisor to the United States, said that his country is preparing for all possibilities, two days after announcing the strengthening of the American military presence in the Middle East.

"The Pentagon is deploying significant capabilities in the region to prepare for a possible need to defend Israel from attack again," he told ABC News, explaining, "At the same time, we are working to calm the situation diplomatically because we do not believe that a regional war is in anyone's interest at the moment."

This coincides with the United States continuing to mobilize more warships and fighter jets to what it says is to protect its forces and its ally Israel from threats from Iran and its affiliated factions, especially the Lebanese Hezbollah, in light of calls from the United States, Britain and France for their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately.

This escalated following Israel's assassination of Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Calls for calm

Today, French President Emmanuel Macron and Jordanian King Abdullah II called during a phone call to avoid military escalation in the Middle East "at any cost", in light of the escalating tensions between Israel on the one hand and Iran and its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah, on the other.

The French presidency said in a statement that Macron and King Abdullah II expressed great concern about the escalation of tensions in the region, and called on all parties to move away from the logic of revenge, exercise the greatest degree of self-restraint, and bear the greatest degree of responsibility to ensure the security of peoples.

The Elysee statement added that "Macron reiterated to the King of Jordan France's commitment to contribute to defusing the escalation at the diplomatic level, especially on the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel," which was defined by the United Nations after the Israeli army withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.

In turn, today the US State Department said that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed with the G7 foreign ministers diplomatic efforts to prevent the escalation of the conflict in the region, while Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that the foreign ministers of the group's countries called on all parties to the current conflict in the Middle East to avoid actions that could lead to escalation.

The statement said that the G7 foreign ministers, during a video conference chaired by Tajani, expressed "their deep concern over recent events that could lead to a wider crisis in the region, starting with Lebanon."

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies