US show of force in Persian Gulf ahead of anniversary of Soleimani killing
A guided-missile submarine and two cruisers are the Pentagon's latest warning to Iran.
The US Navy sent a guided-missile submarine and two cruisers through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday as part of a continuing show of force ahead of the anniversary of the US assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
The nuclear-powered USS Georgia, capable of carrying 154 land-attack cruise missiles, sailed alongside the USS Philippine Sea and USS Port Royale in the US military’s latest public display in the Gulf.
Last week, US naval and air assets conducted joint exercises with the Royal Saudi Air Force and Royal Saudi Navy in the Gulf, the fifth such exercise this year. The latest exercise included live-fire drills and simulated air-to-surface targeting via joint terminal attack controllers.
Washington’s demonstrations come ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Trump administration’s assassination in Baghdad of Soleimani, who was the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
