US sends cruise missile-armed submarine to Red Sea amid rising Iran tensions

The US Navy has sent a submarine armed with dozens of cruise missiles to the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalate.

The military announced that the USS Florida submarine began travelling through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean Sea, according to United Press International.

On April 8, the US Navy released a photo of the submarine traversing the Suez Canal en route to the Red Sea. The submarine is equipped to carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles which can be launched from the sea.

Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said the USS Florida would be joining the US Fifth Fleet to "ensure regional maritime security and stability".

Iranian-backed militia and US forces have exchanged fire in Syria several times in the past few weeks.

In March, an Iranian-designed drone killed a US contractor and wounded five soldiers at a US military facility in Syria's Hasakah province. The US launched airstrikes on Iranian-linked militia facilities in Syria in retaliation.

In March, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Iranian-backed forces have attacked US forces 83 times in the past two years.