Nuclear-capable US sub arrives in Mideast in message to Iran
In an apparent message to Iran and its proxies, US Central Command announced on a Sunday that “an Ohio-class submarine arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility”.
An Ohio class submarine in a photo released on Nov. 5, 2023. Photo by US Centcom
The announcement was made on X, formerly called Twitter. It was accompanied by a photograph of a submarine that was apparently traversing Egypt’s Suez Canal.
Ohio class submarines are capable of firing nuclear and cruise missiles.
Centcom’s area of naval responsibility includes the Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman, near Iran, as well as the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean.
The US has already dispatched two aircraft carrier strike groups in a move apparently intended to deter Hezbollah. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, Iranian proxies have launched rocket and drone attacks on US forces in Syria.
The attacks drew American retaliatory strikes on weapons depots in Syria belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
On Oct. 20, the USS Carney, a guided-missile destroyer stationed in the Red Sea, shot down a ballistic missile and several drones launched by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen heading towards Israel.
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