DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Washington Insider Magazine)- As tensions between Iran and the US keep rising, the US military announced Monday that it has flown two nuclear-capable B-52 long-range bombers over the Mideast in a display of power.
In training operations on Sunday, the bombers flew across the eastern Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Red Sea with Saudi and Kuwaiti planes before taking off from the Royal Air Force base in Fairford, England, according to ABC NEWS.
While the Central Command of the U.S. military made no mention of Iran, Washington routinely sent B-52 bombers to the region as tensions between the U.S. and Iran remained. Such a flyover hadn’t occurred since June.
Israel, a regional rival of Iran, also participated in the international operation. The Israeli military claimed that 3 Israeli F-16 fighter jets flew alongside the American bombers “through Israel’s skies on their way to the (Persian) Gulf,” despite the U.S. not acknowledging their presence. The Israeli military emphasized the importance of its partnership with the U.S. military in order to “maintain aerial security in Israel and the Middle East.”
Under ex President Donald Trump, the Central Command was enlarged to include Israel last year in an effort to promote regional cooperation against Iran.
Several increasing incidents in the area have been blamed on Trump’s decision 4 years ago to remove the United States from the historic nuclear agreement between Tehran and six global nations.
Iran’s military captured 2 American marine drones in the Red Sea last week, even as officials wrangle about the possibility of reviving the nuclear agreement.
Only a few days prior, the nation’s Revolutionary Guard militia released another sea drone as an American battleship followed it. The U.S. Navy is using ultra-long-range aerial surveillance drones to keep an eye on dangers in the vital waterways, which have been the target of several naval assaults.
After recent clashes in the area between U.S. soldiers and militias with Iranian support, tensions are still high. Last month, Washington launched airstrikes in eastern Syria that were directed at regions occupied by militias supported by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, drawing a retaliatory strike from rebels with Iranian support.
Iranian and American negotiators are working to resurrect the 2015 nuclear agreement, which placed strict restrictions on Iran’s atomic programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. The State Department labeled Iran’s most recent negotiation posture as “not constructive” last week.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to a grade of 60%, which is a quick technical step away from 90% and a level it had never achieved previously. Non Proliferation experts caution Tehran has sufficient 60%-enriched uranium to reprocess into power for at least one nuclear weapon, despite the country’s long-standing claims that its programme is peaceful.
