The US Navy has deployed a guided-missile submarine capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles to West Asia, a spokesman said on Saturday, in what appeared to be a show of force towards Iran following recent tensions.

The navy rarely acknowledges the location or deployment of submarines.

Commander Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet based in the Gulf nation of Bahrain, declined to comment on the submarine’s mission or what had prompted the deployment.

He said the nuclear-powered submarine, based out of Kings Bay, Georgia, passed through the Suez Canal on Friday.

“It is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to US 5th Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability,” Hawkins said.

The 5th Fleet patrols the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 per cent of all oil transits.

Its region includes the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen and the Red Sea stretching up to the Suez Canal, the Egyptian waterway linking the Mideast to the Mediterranean Sea.

The US, the UK and Israel have accused Iran of targeting oil tankers and commercial ships in recent years, allegations denied by Tehran.

The US Navy has also reported a series of tense encounters at sea with Iranian forces that it said were being recklessly aggressive.

Last month, the US launched airstrikes against Iran-backed forces in Syria after a rocket attack killed a US contractor.

Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from ships or submarines can hit targets up to 2,500 km.

Tourist killed

An Italian tourist was killed and five people were wounded in a car-ramming in Tel Aviv on Friday that came hours after two Israeli sisters were killed in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank.

A car ploughed into a group near a popular walking path on a Tel Aviv promenade. The driver was shot dead by a nearby police officer.