The Pentagon has announced, in an unusual move, that it has sent an Ohio-class submarine to the Middle East.

The Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility, which includes the Middle East, received one of the US Navy’s nuclear-powered Ohio-class submarines, the service announced on Monday.

The vessel in question is the USS Florida, according to Bloomberg, and it has the capacity to transport up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles or 66 Navy SEAL special operations soldiers for covert operations.

Instead of using intercontinental ballistic missiles, four Ohio-class submarines—two positioned on each US coast—were rearmed with cruise missiles. According to the news site, which quoted anonymous US defence officials, the deployment was intended as “a show of force” to Iran.

The CENCOM statement featured an image of a submarine that appeared to be approaching the Suez Canal’s Al Salam Bridge. The Pentagon almost never announces the deployment of nuclear-powered submarines, unless one of them calls at a port.

READ ALSO: US will “modernise” its primary nuclear weapon

The second military unit reached the area while two US carrier strike groups are in the eastern Mediterranean on a mission. Amid the ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza, Washington promoted the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford and Dwight D. Eisenhower as a deterrent.

Shortly after the devastating Hamas onslaught last month that claimed over 1,000 lives and took hundreds more hostage, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) attacked the Palestinian enclave. The goal of existential importance, according to West Jerusalem, is to destroy the organisation in charge.

The high number of civilian deaths from IDF airstrikes is used by critics to argue that the response is disproportionate. Over 10,000 residents of the region have reportedly died as a result of them, according to Gaza officials.

There are worries that big new powers in the region could become involved in the fight, such as Iran and the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. As part of its commitment to support Israel, the US administration has promised to give it further military assistance for its war in Gaza.

In 2011, as part of NATO’s effort to support rebel forces aiming to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, the USS Florida was deployed for the first time in combat, bombarding Libya. More than ten years after the intervention, the North African country is still economically and politically devastated.