Al-Udeid Air Base, QATAR – The Pentagon sent a B-52 bomber over the Persian Gulf region on Tuesday, the sixth such flight since last fall, to Iran in a gesture of deterrence.
The B-52H Stratofortress, a long-range heavy bomber, flew from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Tuesday and is expected to make a continuous flight over Jordan, Saudi Arabia and along the eastern Saudi coast near the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. back to the US, a senior military official said.
“Our intention is to maintain that enduring defensive stance, to deter any aggression in the region, promote regional security and ensure our allies,” said the senior military official.
The US has been standing guard in recent months and is concerned about the threat from Iran, particularly in the run-up to the January 20 presidential inauguration, multiple officials have said.
US officials have blamed Iranian-backed militias for repeated missile attacks on US facilities in Iraq last year, such as one last month that caused minor damage to the embassy residence in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone. Washington has condemned the regular cross-border missile and drone strikes by the Iran-linked Houthi rebels in Yemen against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.
The US kept an aircraft carrier in the region, maintained other military capabilities, and military commanders were on high alert, officials said. That stemmed from the consensus of intelligence analysts who intercepted reports that Tehran or its proxies in the region intended to avenge the death of Major General Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed by an American drone. strike in Iraq in January 2020.
Officials also feared that Tehran would try to take advantage of the chaotic transition of the Washington government, possibly by attacking allies or attacking US forces in Iraq.
There was no attack on US assets and the imminent threat from Iran has eased 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 battles in Yemen said they had intercepted the projectiles, but two people familiar with the case said a major royal complex had sustained minor damage.
While the Biden administration has vowed to reassess the US’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and to end its support for Riyadh’s war effort in Yemen, Washington quickly condemned the attack and reiterated its commitment to the defense of the kingdom.
The coalition blamed the attack on the Houthis, who denied responsibility, and the US also suggested they were to blame. A previously unknown group called “True Promise Brigades” claiming to be based in Iraq circulated a statement on Telegram claiming it had attacked Yamama Palace and other sites in Riyadh in retaliation for alleged Saudi support for 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 reversed its support for allied militias in the Middle East.
The Houthis rebels and a host of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias – which the US accuses Iran of supporting with weapons, money and training – have continued to threaten and occasionally attack the interests of Washington and its allies.
The recent attack on Riyadh is also likely an attempt by Iran to test how Mr. Biden – who has indicated that he would approach Tehran more conciliatory than Mr. Trump – reacts to threats against US allies in the Gulf in his early days, said Phillip Smyth. an expert on Iranian-backed militia at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Residents of Riyadh on Tuesday reported what appeared to be a second attack and defensive response from a Patriot surface-to-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 from the Saudi coalition or the Houthis more than 24 hours later.
US military officials declined to comment on Tuesday’s incident.
The B-52 flights have become a regular practice in the region. The flight was the sixth such maneuver since November – and the third this month – and more are planned for this spring, military officials said. Tuesday’s flight was scheduled weeks ago and was not triggered by any particular event, officials said.
The senior official said such flights are intended to deter Iran and reassure allies in the region, thus maintaining security while the Biden administration sets new policies for the country, the official said.
President Joe Biden has said he plans for the US to rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran that he helped negotiate under the Obama administration in 2015. WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib explains why it won’t be as easy as it sounds. Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh / Shutterstock (originally published November 16, 2020)
President Biden has indicated his willingness to return to the 2015 nuclear deal from which President Trump pulled the US in May 2018. Beyond that, Biden’s White House has not made public any further plans for Iran.
“We know that US policy on Iran is currently evolving, and the new administration will be making some decisions in the near future, and I have no specific understanding of what those decisions will be,” said the senior official. . But if we continue to deter Iranian aggression. it gives policymakers more scope for decision-making when drawing up policy. “
Dating back to the early Cold War, the B-52 is a long-range heavy bomber used by the US military for a variety of missions. It can fly at high subsonic speeds at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet, travel 8,800 miles without refueling, and transport various types of precision-guided ammunition, according to the military.
The B-52 flew as part of a bomber task force, accompanied by F-15 and F-16 jet fighters and KC-10 and KC-135 tankers. Some planes were flown by Allied aircrew, including from Jordan, officials said.
—Sune Engel Rasmussen contributed to this article.
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