The Pentagon has ordered both the Theodore Roosevelt and the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups (CSGs) to remain in the Middle East as part of the United States' ongoing response to regional tensions.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the decision on August 25.

The move comes as tensions soar in the region after the Iranian regime and its Lebanese proxy Hizbullah vowed to avenge last month's killings of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hizbullah commander Fuad Shukr.

The two CSGs are in the Gulf of Oman, USNI News' Fleet and Marine Tracker reported on August 26.

USS Abraham Lincoln and its escorts arrived in the Middle East on August 21, while the USS Theodore Roosevelt has been there since June.

The Abraham Lincoln CSG includes the Nimitz-class carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, Carrier Air Wing 9 and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS O'Kane, USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. and USS Spruance.

The Lincoln has F-35C fighter jets aboard, along with F/A-18 fighter aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Roosevelt CSG includes the Nimitz-class carrier Theodore, Carrier Air Wing 11 and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Russell, USS Daniel K. Inouye and USS Halsey.

The two CSGs bring massive firepower.

Each Nimitz-class carrier can carry up to 130 aircraft and can generate 125 strike sorties per day for 30 consecutive days.

Each sortie can service six targets -- land, sea, fixed or mobile -- meaning each carrier can hit up to 750 targets each day from its onboard air wing capability alone.

Overwhelming airpower

The carrier air wings alone vastly outclass Iran's outdated air force.

The F-35C aboard the Lincoln is the naval variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, capable of conducting air-to-air, air-to-ground and electronic warfare missions.

The aircraft is designed to be low-observable, which means that it can evade detection by enemy radar systems. This feature makes it an ideal platform for conducting stealthy missions deep inside enemy territory.

Meanwhile, the powerful, versatile F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the US Navy's primary strike and air superiority aircraft.

Super Hornets provide air superiority, fighter escort, reconnaissance, air defense suppression and day or night precision strike with a wide variety of air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles.

Iran's air force has only a few dozen working strike aircraft -- mostly Russian jets and aging US models acquired before the Iranian revolution of 1979.

It has a squadron of nine Vietnam War-era F-4 and F-5 fighter jets; one squadron of Russian-made Sukhoi-24 jets; and some MiG-29s, F-7 and F-14 aircraft, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Iran's dependence on Sukhoi-24s jets, first developed in the 1960s, shows the relative weakness of its air force, Reuters reported August 6.