The U.S Navy has broken with established protocol to announce that it has deployed a nuclear submarine to the Middle-East.
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In what appeared to be a show of force towards Iran, the U.S Navy spokesman who made the announcement on Saturday stated that the guided-missile submarine was capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles.
“[The submarine] is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to US 5th Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability,” said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet based in Bahrain.
Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from ships or submarines can hit targets up to 1,500 miles away.
Hawkins went on to add that the nuclear-powered submarine based out of Kings Bay, Georgia passed through the Suez Canal on Friday on its route to an undisclosed location in the Middle East. He however decline to comment on the specifics of the submarine’s mission or what had led to its deployment.
The US Navy rarely discloses information about the locations or deployments of its submarines. Its 5th Fleet operates in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and some parts of the Indian Ocean.
The 5th Fleet patrols the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil transits. Its region includes the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen and the Red Sea stretching up to the Suez Canal, the Egyptian waterway linking the Mideast to the Mediterranean Sea.
The US, the UK, and Israel have accused Iran in recent years of attacks on commercial oil tankers, including the 2019 assaults on Norwegian and Japanese vessels, which forced both crews to abandon ship. Tehran has vigorously denied the allegations.
The US has also accused Iran of “dangerous and harassing approaches” towards its navy in recent years in the Persian Gulf.
Tensions were heightened last month when the US launched airstrikes against Iran-backed forces in Syria after a rocket attack killed a U.S. contractor and wounded seven other Americans in that country’s northeast.
The rise in tensions was then fueled after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord to provide Iran with sanctions relief, and despite the Biden administration’s attempts to seek a diplomatic remedy.
Tehran has drawn closer to Russia, and has been accused by the US of suppling attack drones to Russian forces in Ukraine.
Tehran has also sought improved relations with China, which brokered an agreement last month to restore diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
