Washington: The US has deployed a nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarine in the Middle East.
The US Navy has deployed a guided missile submarine capable of carrying 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Middle East, international media reported, citing a US Navy spokesman.
Commander Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the US 5th Fleet based in the Gulf nation of Bahrain, said the nuclear-powered submarine sailed from the US state of Georgia and passed through the Suez Canal on Friday. However, the commander declined to comment on USS Florida’s mission in the Middle East or the reason for its recent deployment.
It should be noted that America’s fifth fleet in the Middle East patrols the narrow but important Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, through which 20 percent of all oil shipments pass.
The region includes the Bab al-Mandab strait from Yemen and the Red Sea extending to the Suez Canal, in addition to the Egyptian waterway that connects the Middle East to the Mediterranean.
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