US Deploys Nuclear Submarine In Standoff With Iran
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The United States sent a nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Middle East in a standoff with Iran, the U.S. military confirmed.
Military officials showed a picture of the USS Florida crossing the Suez Canal after Tehran reportedly harassed shipping and attacked oil tankers in the area, some owned by Israelis.
Fleet spokesperson Commander Timothy Hawkins said the submarine “is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet. [It is there] to help ensure regional maritime security and stability.”
Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from ships or submarines can hit targets up to 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles away).
They were employed during the opening hours of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and in response to a Syrian chemical weapons attack in 2018.
Hawkins said the USS Florida submarine, based out of Kings Bay, Georgia, passed through the Suez Canal on Friday after entering the area Thursday.
TARGETING SHIPPING
The move followed allegations by the United States, Britain, and Israel that Iran has been targeting oil tankers and commercial ships in recent years, charges denied by Tehran.
The U.S. Navy also reported a series of tense encounters at sea with Iranian forces that it claimed were “recklessly aggressive.”
Last month, the U.S. 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.
Analysts say U.S.-Iranian tensions have worsened since then-President Donald J. Trump withdrew from a 2015 agreement with world powers that provided sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its nuclear activities.
Tehran has increasingly resisted placing its nuclear program under enhanced surveillance.
Israel has warned that Iran is very close to making nuclear weapons.
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