DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A pair of B-52 bombers flew over the Middle East on Sunday, the last mission in the region to warn Iran amid tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The flight of the two heavy bombers occurred when a pro-Iran satellite channel based in Beirut transmitted images of Iranian military drones from an Israeli ship hit by a mysterious explosion a few days earlier in the Middle East. Although the channel tried to say that Iran was not involved, Israel blamed Tehran for what it described as an attack on the ship.
The Central Command of the US Armed Forces said that the two B-52s flew over the region accompanied by military aircraft from countries such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It marked the fourth bomber launch in the Middle East this year and the second under President Joe Biden.
Flight tracking data showed that the two B-52s left Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, something the Central Command did not mention in its flight statement, although officials later published images of the crew preparing for their departure there. .
The military did not directly mention Iran in its statement, saying the flight was “to stop the aggression and reassure the partners and allies of the US military’s commitment to security in the region”.
However, these flights have become commonplace in the past few months under former President Donald Trump. Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers has spawned a series of growing incidents in the region.
Biden expressed a desire to return to the deal if Iran honors the deal’s limits in its nuclear program. However, tensions remain high after militias in Iraq – probably supported by Iran – continue to target American interests.
Last month Biden launched an air strike on the Syrian border in retaliation, joining all American presidents of Ronald Reagan onwards who ordered a bombing of countries in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Beirut’s Al-Mayadeen channel broadcast footage of Helios Ray, a Bahamas-flagged roll-on and roll-off freighter hit by the February 26 blasts in the Gulf of Oman.
The grainy images included blurred areas in the video, probably coordinates and other information displayed by the Iranian military drone. The filming of a spot showed what appeared to be a hole in the side of the ship.
Al-Mayadeen did not say when the shooting was made, nor did he explain the circumstances under which the Iranian drone was following the ship. The 5th US Navy Fleet, based in Bahrain, which patrols the Middle East and often has tense encounters with Iran, declined to comment on the footage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for the explosions, something Tehran denied. However, the Gulf of Oman saw a series of similar attacks in 2019 that the United States Navy attributed to Iran.