By Lara Seligman
The Pentagon announced that a U.S. Navy nuclear-armed submarine has arrived in Gibraltar, a rare acknowledgement of the whereabouts of one of America's most secretive weapons a day after President Trump forcefully rejected Iran's latest peace offer.
The Navy in a statement described the submarine in Gibraltar, a British territory off Spain's coast, as one of its Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines, often referred to as "boomers," a stealthy platform designed to launch nuclear warheads.
"The port visit demonstrates U.S. capability, flexibility, and continuing commitment to its NATO allies," the Navy announced, adding that the submarine arrived in Gibraltar on Sunday. "Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines are undetectable launch platforms for submarine-launched ballistic missiles, providing the U.S. with its most survivable leg of the nuclear triad."
The Pentagon almost never acknowledges the locations of its boomers, which are highly classified. The Navy didn't provide the name of the submarine in Gibraltar.
The timing of the announcement is notable because it comes just hours after Trump rejected Iran's latest ceasefire proposal as "TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE" in a Sunday social-media post. "I have just read the response from Iran's so-called 'Representatives,'" he wrote. "I don't like it."
Trump will travel to China later this week to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whose country maintains close ties with Iran.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 11, 2026 11:34 ET (15:34 GMT)
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