Israel deploys submarine to Persian Gulf in message of deterrence to Iran

By Shira Rubin
12/23/2020, 6:38:00 a.m.

TEL AVIV — An Israeli submarine has embarked for the Persian Gulf in possible preparation for any Iranian retaliation over the November assassination of a senior Iranian nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Israeli media reported.

The above-water, fully visible Israeli deployment into the Suez Canal and then the Red Sea was a rare move that was reportedly carried out with the acquiescence of Egyptian authorities and was seen as a clear warning to Iran that Israel was preparing for battle as hostilities continue to rise.

The deployment, first reported late Monday, coincided with the sighting in the Persian Gulf of the submarine USS Georgia, which is armed with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. It is the first time in eight years that an Ohio-class guided-missile submarine was publicly reported to be in the strategic waterway between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.

On Dec. 9, two U.S. B-52 bombers also headed toward the gulf accompanied by Saudi aircraft in what Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., head of the U.S. Central Command, said was an example of the two countries’ “strong working relationship and shared commitment to regional security and stability.”

-snip-