Washington sends a nuclear sub Iran’s way, in case two carriers weren’t enough

(Originally published Nov. 7 in “What in the World“) Russian forces launched missile and drone attacks against Odessa a day after Ukrainian air strikes damaged a Russian naval vessel in Crimea.

Washington, meanwhile, bolstered its military presence in the Middle East with the arrival of a nuclear submarine. It joins the two aircraft carrier groups already in the eastern Mediterranean. The buildup is meant to underscore the White House’s warnings to Tehran not to use the various militias it controls around Israel to escalate the war there. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shuttled around the region last weekend reiterating that message wherever he went—including the West Bank and Baghdad.

Since Israel went to war in Gaza to retaliate for the Oct. 7 invasion by Hamas, Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have claimed missile and drone attacks against Israel, while Iran-backed Hezbollah and Islamic State have been engaged in escalating skirmishes with Israeli forces on the Lebanese border. Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq have launched 38 rocket and drone attacks against U.S. bases there, as well, including seven more last weekend while Blinken was conducting his shuttle diplomacy.