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The US Navy deployed a nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Middle East waters via the Suez Canal, a spokesperson revealed Saturday.
The Pentagon's rare disclosure of the location of one of its Ohio-class submarines came amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran after an American military contractor was killed by a drone attack on a US base in Syria last month.
The USS Florida arrived in the region before transiting the canal on Friday "to help ensure regional maritime security and stability," Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for the US Navy's 5th Fleet, told Al-Monitor via email.
The deployment of the USS Florida "offers us additional flexibility, firepower, survivability, readiness and capability," spokesperson for US Central Command Col. Joe Buccino said.
The military's statements did not explicitly link the submarine's deployment to tensions with Iran, but two officials told Al-Monitor the deployment came amid intelligence indicating multiple potential threats by Iran and its proxies in the region.
Among those threats was a potential maritime attack on Israeli-linked commercial tanker ships in response to Israeli airstrikes in Syria last month that left two officers of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) dead, according to one official.
The US Navy's 5th Fleet advised Israeli shipping companies on Thursday to urge ship crews in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to deactivate their transponders and steer clear of the Iranian coast to reduce the risk of being targeted by drones, The New York Times first reported.
US defense officials are also monitoring closely for signs that would indicate renewed attacks by Iran-backed groups in Syria against US troops there, both in retaliation for the recent Israeli strikes and as a resumption of normal harassment following last month's lethal exchange of fire with the United States.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the intelligence assessments.
The USS Florida's arrival follows a wave of rocket fire launched from Lebanon into Israel in the most blatant escalation on that front since Israel's 2006 war with Lebanese Hezbollah.
The rocket barrages from Lebanon, which prompted limited Israeli airstrikes against what it said were Hamas targets in response, followed international uproar over footage of Israeli soldiers beating Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
Israel has pursued increasingly bold airstrikes into neighboring Syria against IRGC-linked targets in recent months as it seeks to clip what it sees as threatening components of Iran's military foothold there. A senior IRGC official openly threatened retaliation after the two officers were killed in Syria by Israeli strikes late last month.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant by phone on Saturday and "underscored his support for Israel's security against all threats."
The USS Florida's arrival in the Red Sea came amid additional US military deployments in the region.
Last week, the Pentagon extended the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS George H. W. Bush in the Mediterranean to support US forces in the Middle East in case of further conflagration, and moved up the planned deployment of a squadron of A-10 attack aircraft to the region, CNN first reported.
The attack on the US base in Syria last month was carried out with an Iranian drone, defense officials said following the incident. President Joe Biden authorized retaliatory airstrikes targeting facilities in Syria used by local groups armed and trained by the IRGC, killing at least eight personnel, the military assessed. Three more rocket attacks against US positions in Syria followed the airstrikes.
During a hearing before Senate lawmakers following the lethal exchange, top US general Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley openly advocated targeting the IRGC Quds Force to deter future attacks.
Tensions have continued to flare between the United States and Iran since former President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 multinational nuclear accord with Tehran. The United States and its allies have pointed the finger at Iran for a string of clandestine attacks on maritime shipping vessels in Middle East waterways in recent years, charges Tehran has denied. Israel has carried out its own quiet campaign of sabotage targeting Iranian oil tankers and Iran's nuclear program, in addition to its efforts in Syria.
Earlier this year, the United States and Israel conducted their largest-ever military exercise together, culminating in waves of long-range airstrikes against mock strategic targets. Pentagon officials publicly insisted the targets were not modeled after Iranian ones, but Israeli defense officials have been pressing their US counterparts for years to lend them the US military's long-range strike capabilities in order to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
US officials have said they believe Iran has not yet chosen to pursue a nuclear weapon, but Tehran's uranium enrichment has continued in violation of the 2015 agreement since the Trump administration abandoned the deal in 2018. The Biden administration's efforts to negotiate a mutual return to the deal have failed thus far.
The Biden administration's strategy in the Middle East emphasizes containing Iran's threats to US forces and their allies in the region. Pentagon officials have said they believe Tehran aims to eventually force the remaining 30,000-35,000 US troops out of the Middle East, partly via deniable attacks that stop short of triggering open conflict.
The top commander of US forces in the Middle East — US Army Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla — has advocated publicly calling out Iran for attacks by its proxies as a means to thwart future attacks.
This story was updated on April 8-9 to include additional information.
