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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/08/world/middleeast/us-submarine-middle-east-iran.html
U.S. Deploys Guided Missile Submarine to Middle East
(New York Times) Farnaz Fassihi - The U.S. Navy said Saturday that it had deployed the guided missile submarine USS Florida to the Middle East, following escalating tensions between Iran and Israel. U.S. military and Israeli intelligence agencies said that Iran's Revolutionary Guards was preparing a drone attack against Israeli-owned civilian merchant vessels sailing in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The Florida, which can carry 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, began transiting the Suez Canal on Friday. The Pentagon last week announced it was extending the tour of the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush in the eastern Mediterranean and speeding up the deployment of Air Force A-10 attack planes to a base in the Middle East. Israel's Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant spoke on Saturday with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Israeli ships were advised to turn off their transponders, sail as close as possible to the coast of Oman and away from the Iranian coast, and to routinely report their whereabouts and any suspicious activity.