DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A pair of B-52 bombers flew over the Middle East on Sunday, the last mission in the region aimed at warning Iran amid tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The flight of the two heavy bombers came as a pro-Iranian satellite channel in Beirut that broadcast Iranian military drone images of an Israeli ship hit by a mysterious explosion in the Middle East just days earlier. While the channel tried to say Iran was not involved, Israel has blamed Tehran for what it described as an attack on the ship.
The US Army’s Central Command said the two B-52s flew over the region, accompanied by military planes from Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among others. It was the fourth such bombers to be deployed in the Middle East this year and the second under President Joe Biden.
Flight tracking data showed that the two B-52s flew out of Minot Air Base in North Dakota, something Central Command did not mention in its statement about the flights, although authorities later published images of the flight crew preparing for departure.
The military did not directly mention Iran in its statement, saying the flight was intended to “deter aggression and reassure partners and allies of the US military’s commitment to security in the region.”
However, such flights had become common in the closing months of former President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump’s 2018 decision to unilaterally withdraw from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers sparked a series of escalating incidents in the region.
Biden has expressed a desire to return to the deal if Iran respects the deal’s limits on its nuclear program. However, tensions remain high as militias in Iraq – likely backed by Iran – continue to target US interests.
Biden launched an airstrike just over the border with Syria last month in retaliation, joining every US president since Ronald Reagan has ordered a bombing raid on countries in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the Beirut-based channel Al-Mayad broadcast images of the Helios Ray, a Bahamian-flagged roll-on, roll-off freighter that was hit by the explosion in the Gulf of Oman on Feb. 26.
The grainy images included blurred areas on the video, likely coordinates, and other information displayed by the Iranian military drone. The footage at one point showed what appeared to be a hole in the side of the ship.
Al-Mayadeen did not say when the footage was taken, nor did it explain under what circumstances the Iranian drone followed the ship. The Bahrain-based US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which patrols the Middle East and often has tense encounters with Iran, declined to comment on the footage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Iran for the blasts, something Tehran denies. However, the Gulf of Oman saw a series of similar attacks in 2019 that the US Navy subsequently blamed on Iran.