The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft and some of its escort warships were heading toward the Middle East from the South China Sea, the New York Times reported on Thursday, amid heightened US tensions with Iran.Citing two officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the publication reported that the carrier and its escorts could arrive in the region in about one week.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.It further quoted the officials as saying that “an array of warplanes, likely to include a combination of fighter jets, attack planes and refueling planes, were expected to start flowing into the region soon.”Meanwhile, the Pentagon is also dispatching air defense equipment to the region, including interceptor missiles, for the protection of bases in the Middle East and Gulf, “especially the al-Udaid airbase in Qatar,” the report added.“The two US officials said the surge in weaponry aimed both to deter Iranian authorities from inflicting