United States military officials announced Sunday they had sent a guided missile submarine to the Middle East as the Israel-Hamas war reaches the one-month mark — even releasing a rare photo of the powerful vessel.
“On November 5, 2023, an Ohio-class submarine arrived in the US Central Command area of responsibility,” US Central Command posted on X.
The post included a photo of the Ohio-class submarine apparently traversing the Suez Canal, just north of Cairo.
The submarine can carry 154 Tomahawk missiles, each of which can hold up to 1,000 pounds of explosives in their warheads, according to Stars and Stripes.
CENTCOM’s announcement Sunday night came just hours after Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani warned the Biden administration to call for a cease-fire.
“Our advice to the Americans is to immediately stop the war in Gaza and implement a cease-fire, otherwise they will be hit hard,” Ashtiani warned, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
He also accused the US of being “militarily involved” in the war in Israel.
The US Navy had previously announced that two aircraft carrier strike groups — the Gerald R. Ford and the Dwight D. Eisenhower — launched aircraft and missile defense during a three-day exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, officials announced Friday.
Military leaders have also previously announced the deployment of around 1,000 American soldiers and the engagement of an unspecified number of special operations commandos who are “advising the Israeli military.”
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder claimed last month that the build-up of US military assets in the Middle East was aimed at deterring regional escalation of the war in Israel and protecting the US and its allies.
“Since that Hamas terrorist attack, we’ve … been crystal clear that we do not want to see the situation in Israel widen into a broader regional conflict,” he said at an Oct. 24 press conference.
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