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,” Cdr. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, told Al-Monitor via email. The deployment of the Florida “offers us additional flexibility, firepower, survivability, readiness and capability,” spokesperson for US Central Command (CENTCOM) Col. Joe Buccino told Al-Monitor. US officials did not explicitly link the submarine’s deployment to tensions with Iran, but its arrival comes

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