US B-52 Bomber flies over Persian Gulf, showing violence against Iran

Al-Udeid Air Force Base, QATAR – The Pentagon on Tuesday sent a B-52 bomber over the Persian Gulf region, the sixth of its kind since last fall, in a show of deterrence to Iran.

The B-52H Stratofortress, a long-range heavy bomber, flew from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Tuesday and was expected to make a continuous flight over Jordan, Saudi Arabia and along the eastern Saudi coastline near the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. undertake. return to the U.S., a senior military official said.

“Our intention is to maintain the lasting defensive position, to repel any aggression in the region, to promote local security and to secure our allies,” the senior military official said.

The U.S. has been vigilant for the past few months and has been concerned about the threat posed by Iran, especially that led to the inauguration of the president on January 20, several officials said.

U.S. officials blamed Iranian militias for repeated rocket attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq last year, such as one last month that caused minor damage to the embassy in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad. Washington has condemned frequent cross-border missiles and drone strikes launched by Iranian Houthi rebels in Yemen against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. has maintained an aircraft carrier in the region, maintained other military capabilities and military commanders were strongly prepared, officials said. It stems from the consensus of intelligence analysts who have intercepted messages indicating that Tehran or its proxies in the region were planning to avenge the death of Major General Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Watch Corps, led by An American drone was killed. strike in Iraq in January 2020.

Officials also feared that Tehran would try to exploit the chaotic transition of the government in Washington, possibly by attacking allies or by attacking US troops in Iraq.

No attack on U.S. assets has come and Iran’s immediate threat has diminished somewhat, top military officials said, but the Pentagon remains vigilant.

On Saturday, the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was attacked for the first time in seven months with armed drones or missiles. The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it had intercepted the projectiles, but two people familiar with the matter said a major royal complex had suffered minor damage.

While the Biden government promised to reevaluate the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia and end its support for Riyadh’s war effort in Yemen, Washington quickly condemned the attack and reiterated its commitment to defending the kingdom.

The coalition blames the attack on the Houthis, who deny responsibility, and the US has also implied that they are to blame. A previously unknown group called “True Promise Brigades” pretending to be based in Iraq has spread a statement on Telegram claiming it targeted the Yamama Palace and other sites in Riyadh in retaliation for alleged Saudi aid for the Islamic State.

Regardless of who was behind the attack, the incident is a sign that despite several years of maximum pressure from the Trump administration against Iran, Tehran has not significantly rolled back its support for allied militias in the Middle East.

The Houthi rebels as well as a multitude of Iranian-backed Iraqi militants – who accuse the US of supporting Iran with weapons, money and training – continued to threaten the interests of Washington and its allies, occasionally to fall.

The recent attack on Riyadh is probably also an attempt by Iran to test how Mr. Biden – who indicated that he would take a more conciliatory approach to Tehran than Mr. Trump – in his early days in office responds to threats against US allies in the Gulf, says Phillip Smyth, an expert on militias by Iran backed by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Residents of Riyadh reported on Tuesday what appeared to be a second attack and a defensive response by a Patriot air-interceptor missile system in the capital’s diplomatic quarter, which borders Yamama Palace. Further details of the incident remain unclear, with no public comment by the Saudi coalition or the Houthis more than 24 hours later.

U.S. military officials declined to comment on Tuesday’s incident.

The B-52 flights have become a regular use in the region. The flight was the sixth maneuver since November – and the third this month – with more planning for this spring, military officials said. Officials said the flight was scheduled for Tuesday weeks ago and was not caused by a specific event.

The senior official said such flights were intended to deter Iran and secure allies in the region, thus maintaining security while the Biden government establishes a new policy for the country, the official said.

President Joe Biden has said he intends for the US to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal he helped establish under the Obama administration. Gerald F. Seib, WSJ, explains why it will not be as simple as it sounds. Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh / Shutterstock (Originally published on November 16, 2020)

President Biden has indicated that he is prepared to return to the 2015 nuclear deal from which President Trump pulled the US in May 2018. In addition, the Biden White House has not announced any further plans on Iran.

“We know that US policy is currently evolving towards Iran, and that the new government will make some decisions next time, and I have no particular insight into what those decisions are going to be,” the senior official said. . “But if we continue to deter Iranian aggression. this will give policymakers more decision-making power as they draft policies. ”

The B-52, dating from the early Cold War, is a long-range heavy bomber used by the U.S. military for various missions. According to the military, it can fly at high subsonic speeds at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet, drive 8,800 miles without refueling.

The B-52 flew as part of a bombing task force, accompanied by F-15 and F-16 jets and KC-10 and KC-135 tankers. Some officers flew from the planes by Allied aircraft crews, also from Jordan.

Write to Gordon Lubold at [email protected] and Stephen Kalin at [email protected]

Copyright © 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

.Source