US military acknowledges positioning submarine in Mid-East

The US military has acknowledged positioning a nuclear-capable submarine in the Middle East.

It provided no other details in its online statement Sunday, though it posted an image that appeared to show a submarine in Egypt's Suez Canal near its Suez Canal Bridge.

US acknowledgment of an Ohio-class submarine location is incredibly rare as they represent part of America's so-called “nuclear triad” of atomic weapons — which also includes land-based ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs aboard strategic bombers.

Several Ohio-class submarines instead carry cruise missiles and the capability to deploy with special operations forces, so it's unclear if the submarine operating now in the Mideast carries nuclear ballistic missiles.

The US has deployed submarines into the region before and announced its recent presence as tensions were high with Iran.

Central Command separately released an image of a nuclear-capable B-1 bomber also operating in the Mideast on Sunday. (AP)