The Pentagon has done something extremely rare in American military practice - it officially announced the location of one of its nuclear submarines. An Ohio-class ballistic submarine has arrived in Gibraltar, the British territory on the southern coast of Spain. And everyone knows it, because the Sixth Fleet announced it with a press release.

This is not a communications error. It's a signal aimed directly at Tehran. The locations of American nuclear submarines are normally kept under strict secrecy. When the Pentagon decides to broadcast them - there is a reason. This time the reason is that the day before, Trump had rejected Iran's latest peace offer, describing it as „incredibly weak".

What is Iran asking for? According to Tehran - war reparations, Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, and the lifting of American sanctions. Premature positions for someone who looks to be negotiating from weakness. Trump read it that way and answered with two things - the refusal of the offer, and a submarine in Gibraltar.

Ohio-class submarines are not ordinary. They are 14 ballistic-missile submarines and 4 cruise-missile submarines. The ballistic ones can carry Trident II missiles and run long deterrence missions - in other words, they are the „last row" of the American nuclear triad. The cruise-missile ones can carry over 150 Tomahawk missiles.

The Sixth Fleet's press release was deliberately measured: „The port visit demonstrates the capability, flexibility and enduring commitment of the US to its NATO allies". That's diplomatic language. But for the reader in Tehran, the message is clear: „We can hit you from here, whenever we want".

For the Balkans, this matters because Gibraltar isn't „far". The air distance to Skopje is under 3,000 kilometres. When a nuclear submarine is moving at that range, it isn't outside our neighbourhood - it's in it. And escalation between the US and Iran isn't something we get to watch from the side.

The Iranian counter-offer, particularly the part on sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, if accepted, will overturn the EU's entire energy balance. And directly - the prices of petrol and heating in the Balkans next winter. Iran and the US aren't only talking about themselves. They are talking about our household budgets.