United States Sends Armed Submarine to the Middle East as Tensions with Tehran Escalate
The USS Florida submarine transits the Suez Canal in Egypt. Source: Elliot Schaudt/ US Navy Central Command, via Reuters
The United States Navy announced last weekend that it has deployed a guided missile submarine, the USS Florida, to the Red Sea to support the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet. According to US Commander Timothy Hawkins, the submarine is “capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to US 5th Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability.” In recent years, tensions between the US and Iran have risen following allegations that Tehran is intentionally targeting oil tankers and commercial ships in the region, although Iranian officials deny these accusations.
Other geopolitical developments, including Iranian support for Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and a rapprochement with China, have contributed to Tehran’s deteriorating relationship with Washington. Considering that US submarine movement is rarely publicized, it is clear that the US intends to send a message to Tehran that further escalations in the region will not be tolerated.
The deployment of the USS Florida follows a series of attacks carried out by Iranian-backed militant groups in the Middle East. In March, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reported that the US had launched airstrikes in Syria targeting facilities linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Austin emphasized that the strikes were carried out in response to a drone attack in Northeast Syria that killed an American contractor and wounded six other Americans. According to US officials, Iranian-backed groups in Syria and Iraq have launched 78 attacks since 2021 against American forces and their allies. Though the US has begun to shift much of its attention towards China amid increased aggression towards Taiwan, the Biden Administration wants to limit Iran’s influence in the Middle East and restrict Tehran’s military capability.
Iranians in Tehran hold a public funeral for the two Guard Corps members killed in Israeli airstrikes in Syria. Source: Arash Khamooshi/New York Times
The US is not the only one concerned with Tehran’s actions. Israel has historically made explicit its opposition to Iran’s expanding influence and attempts to acquire nuclear weapons. In January, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would result in the “criss-crossing of the Middle East with nuclear tripwires, as other regimes who understand the danger of a nuclear Iran will rush to arm themselves.” Israel has not refrained from using military force to limit Iran’s nuclear program, and in January it carried out a drone strike against a defense facility in Iran.
In recent weeks, tensions between Israel and Iran have taken a turn for the worse. Last week, 34 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, which Israeli officials argue were either organized or supported by Iran-backed Hezbollah forces. Subsequent airstrikes in Syria against Iranian targets are suspected to have been carried out by Israel, though this has not been confirmed by Israel’s military. It seems unlikely that Tehran will give in to US and Israeli demands. In response to the recent drone strikes in Syria that killed two Iranian Guards, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement, “The Zionist regime will undoubtedly receive a response for this crime.”
If there continue to be escalations in the region, and increased involvement by major geopolitical powers, the risk of war will only grow. Iran has so far been unresponsive to the Western containment strategy, however, the Biden administration must carefully execute a strategy to limit Iran’s capability without further igniting the threat of military conflict.