Al-Udeid Air Base, QATAR – The Pentagon sent a B-52 bomber through the Persian Gulf region on Tuesday, the sixth raid since last fall, in a deterrent demonstration to Iran.
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 through Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the east coast of Saudi Arabia, near the United Arab Emirates. United and Qatar before returning to the USA, said a senior military official.
“Our intention is to maintain this lasting defensive posture, to stop any aggression in the region, promote regional security and ensure our allies,” said the military officer.
The United States has been on guard for the past two months and concerned about the threat posed by Iran, particularly before the presidential inauguration on January 20, several officials said.
American officials blamed Iran-backed militias for repeated rocket attacks on US installations in Iraq last year, like one last month that caused minor damage to the embassy complex within Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone. Washington condemned regular attacks with cross-border missiles and drones launched by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.
The United States maintained an aircraft carrier in the region, maintained other military capabilities and military commanders were on high alert, officials said. This resulted from the consensus of intelligence analysts who intercepted messages indicating that Tehran or its representatives in the region planned to avenge the death of Major General Qassem Soleimani, leader of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, killed by an American drone strike in Iraq in January 2020.
Authorities also feared that Tehran might try to take advantage of the chaotic government transition in Washington, possibly by attacking allies or by attacking American troops in Iraq.
No attacks on US assets have occurred and Iran’s immediate threat has eased somewhat, senior military officials said, but the Pentagon remains vigilant.
On Saturday, the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was attacked with drones or armed missiles for the first time in seven months. The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it 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 the Riyadh 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 United States also hinted that they were to blame. A previously unknown group called “True Promise Brigades” that allegedly is based in Iraq distributed a statement on Telegram alleging that it targeted Yamama Palace and other places in Riyadh in retaliation for alleged Saudi support for Islamic State.
Regardless of who is 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 reduced its support for allied militias in the Middle East.
The Houthis rebels, as well as a multitude of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias – whom 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 Biden – who signaled he would take a more conciliatory approach to Tehran than Trump – in his early days in office responds to threats against U.S. Gulf allies, said Phillip Smyth , a specialist in Iran-supported militias from the Washington Institute of Near East Policy.
Riyadh residents reported on Tuesday what appeared to be a second strike and defensive response from a Patriot surface-to-air interceptor missile system within the capital’s diplomatic quarter, which is next to Yamama Palace. More details about 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.
B-52 flights have become a regular practice in the region. The flight was the sixth maneuver of its kind since November – and the third this month – with more planned this spring, military officials said. Tuesday’s flight was planned weeks ago and was not triggered by any particular event, officials said.
The official said these flights are intended to arrest Iran and reassure allies in the region, thereby maintaining security while the Biden government establishes a new policy for the country, the official said.
President Joe Biden said that he plans the United States to re-enter the nuclear deal with Iran that he helped to establish under the Obama administration in 2015. WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib explains why doing this will not be as simple as it sounds. Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh / Shutterstock (originally published on November 16, 2020)
President Biden has indicated his willingness to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, from which President Trump withdrew the United States in May 2018. In addition, the Biden White House has not released any future plans on Iran.
“We know that US policy is evolving with respect to Iran now, and the new government will make some decisions in the near future, and I have no particular view of what those decisions will be,” said the senior official. “But if we continue to stop Iranian aggression. it will give policy makers more room for decision as they define policies.
Dating back to the start of the Cold War, the B-52 is a long-range heavy bomber that the U.S. Army uses for a variety of missions. It can fly at high subsonic speeds at an altitude of up to 50,000 feet, travel 8,800 miles without refueling, and load different types of precision-guided munitions, 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 the KC-10 and KC-135 tanks. Some of the planes were flown by allied crews, including from Jordan, officials said.
—Sune Engel Rasmussen contributed to this article.
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