Al-Udid Air Base, QATAR-Pentagon, sent a B-52 bomber to the Persian Gulf region on Tuesday, the sixth such retrenchment since the last fall in a show of detention for Iran.
The B-52H Stratofortress, a long-range heavy bomber aircraft, flew from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Tuesday and is expected to make a continuous flight down the eastern Saudi coastline near Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. was. A senior military officer said, returning to the US.
The senior military officer said, “Our intention is to maintain that standing posture, so as to prevent any invasion into the region, promote regional security and reassure our allies.”
Many officials said that the US has been on guard for the past few months and worried about Iran’s threat, especially the presidential inauguration on January 20.
US officials have blamed Iran-backed militias for repeated rocket attacks on US facilities in Iraq over the past year, such as the minor damage to the embassy compound inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone last month. Washington has regularly condemned cross-border missile and drone strikes launched by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen against civilian bases in Saudi Arabia.
Officials said the US placed an aircraft carrier in the area, retaining other military capabilities and military commanders. With the consensus of intelligence analysts who intercepted messages indicating Tehran or its proximity to the region, they were planning to avenge Major General Qasam Soleimani, leader of Iran’s elite Islamic parliamentary guard party, an American Were killed by drones. Strike in Iraq in January 2020.
Officials also feared that Tehran could try to exploit the government’s chaotic transition in Washington, possibly by attacking allies or attacking US troops in Iraq.
Top military officials said that there was no attack on American assets and the immediate threat from Iran has eased, but the Pentagon is cautious.
On Saturday, Saudi capital Riyadh was attacked for the first time in seven months by armed drones or missiles. The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it had disrupted the projectile, but two people familiar with the matter said that a significant imperial complex had suffered minor damage.
While the Biden administration has vowed to reassure America’s relations with Saudi Arabia and end its support of Riyadh’s war effort in Yemen, Washington immediately condemned the attack and its commitment to protect the state Repeated
The coalition accused the Houthis of assault, who denied responsibility, and the US also alleged that they were convicted. A previously undisclosed group known as the “True Promise Brigades”, based in Iraq, distributed a statement on Telegram claiming that it had reprimanded Yamaha Palace and Riyadh in exchange for alleged Saudi support of the Islamic State. Other sites in
Despite who was behind the attack, the incident is indicative that despite several years of maximum pressure by the Trump administration against Iran, Tehran has not withdrawn its support for allied militias in the Middle East.
The Houthis rebels, as well as a mob of Iran-backed Iraqi militants – who accuse the US of supporting Iran with weapons, money and training – have threatened and sometimes attacked the interests of Washington and its allies Has also done.
Recent attacks on Riyadh are also being tried by Iran to test how Mr Biden – who has hinted that he will be adopting a more treaty approach to Tehran than Tehran – will have US allies in his early days in office Responds to threats. The Gulf said, Philip Smith, an expert on the Iranian-backed militia at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Residents of Riyadh reported on Tuesday that a second attack and a defensive response was seen by a Patriot surface-to-air interceptor missile system inside the capital’s diplomatic quarter, adjacent to the Yamama Palace. Further details of the incident are unclear, with the Saudi coalition or the Houthis making no public comments for more than 24 hours.
US military officials declined to comment on Tuesday’s incident.
B-52 flights have become a regular practice in the area. Military officials said the flight was the sixth since November and the third flight in this month. Officials said Tuesday’s flight was planned weeks in advance and did not begin with any particular incident.
The purpose of such flights is to stop Iran and reassure allies in the region, thus maintaining security while the Biden administration sets a new policy for the country, the official said.
President Joe Biden has stated that he planned for the US to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal established under the Obama administration in 2015. Gerald F. of WSJ. Seeb explains that doing this will not be as simple as it seems. Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh / Shutterstock (originally published November 16, 2020:
President Biden has indicated a desire to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, from which President Trump pulled the US in May 2018. Furthermore, the Biden White House has not made public any further plans on Iran.
The senior official said, “We know that US policy is developing in relation to Iran right now, and the new administration will make some decisions in the next few years, and I have no specific information about what they will decide.” . “But if we continue to stop Iranian aggression. This will give policy makers more decision space for policy making. “
Dating back to the early Cold War, the B-52 is a long-range heavy bomber that the US military uses for a variety of missions. It can fly at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet at high sub-speeds according to the military, can go 8,800 miles without refueling and carry a variety of precision-guided armaments.
The B-52s flew as part of a bomber task force, consisting of F-15 and F-16 jet fighter aircraft, and KC-10 and KC-135 tankers. Officials said some aircraft were flown by Jordanian-affiliated aircrews.
Sunil Angle Rasmussen contributed to this article.
Write Gordon Lubold @ wsj.com in Gordon Gordon and [email protected] in Stephen Kalin
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