Is the United States preparing for a nuclear war in Europe by deploying a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East? No, that's not true: There is no evidence nor has it been reported that the United States is currently preparing for a nuclear war in Europe or elsewhere.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok by the account novosti..2023 on April 11, 2023, with the caption:
The US is preparing nuclear war in Europe.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(TikTok screenshot taken on Mon May 1 10:38:10 2023 UTC)
The video opened with one of Russia's most prominent state television presenters Olga Skabeyeva, stating:
The US is preparing nuclear war in Europe and not only in Europe.
The claim appears in the first 37 seconds of the video, which inaccurately references a recent deployment of a U.S. submarine to the Middle East depicting it as preparation for a nuclear war. There is no element to corroborate this assumption: This is a misrepresentation of what is being reported and there is no indication by the United States or by any reputable media outlet that this has been carried out in preparation for a nuclear war.
The Associated Press reported on April, 8, 2023: "The U.S. Navy has deployed a guided-missile submarine capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Middle East, a spokesman said Saturday, in what appeared to be a show of force toward Iran following recent tensions." "U.S.-Iranian tensions," the AP report continues, "have soared since then-President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 agreement with world powers that provided sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its nuclear activities and placing them under enhanced surveillance." The tensions have worsened - it concludes - as Iran has supplied attack drones to Russian forces in Ukraine and Israel and Iran's yearlong shadow war in the Middle East has escalated.
