London: The UK has got closer to the conflict zone in the Middle East by deploying a nuclear-powered submarine in the Arabian Sea.
The HMS Anson, equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, is supposedly taking up position in the northern Arabian Sea, the Daily Mail reported, citing military sources.
This deployment will give Britain the capability to launch strikes on Iran in case the regional conflict escalates drastically. On Friday, London had authorised the US military to use bases in Britain to strike Iranian missile sites that are threatening the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, as reported by India Today.
A request by the US for the use of British bases to strike Iran has initially been rejected by UK prime minister Keir Starmer, who said that he needed to be satisfied that any military action was legal.
Starmer modified his stance after Iran conducted strikes on British allies across the Middle East, allowing the US to use RAF Fairford and the joint US-UK base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Reports say that the HMS Anson left port in Australia’s Perth on March 6. The submarine surfaces once every 24 hours in order to be able to communicate with the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) in London.
Any order to fire will be directly authorised by Starmer, defence sources told the Daily Mail.
On Saturday, Iran launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles towards Diego Garcia, nearly 4,000 km away. Though it has been claimed that none of the missiles hit their intended targets, the launch came as a surprise.
The launch suggests that Tehran either has missiles that can go farther than previously acknowledged — or that it used a launch vehicle from its space program for an improvised launch.
The attack occurred before the government gave specific authorisation for the US to use British military bases for strikes on Iran’s missile sites, a source at Britain’s defence ministry, was cited by Reuters as saying.
After the attack on Diego Garcia, Israel claimed that Iran possesses the capability to carry out missile strikes on European capitals.
“These missiles are not intended to strike Israel. Their range reaches European capitals — Berlin, Paris, and Rome are all within direct threat range,” Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir had said in a statement.
