January 7th local time, the U.S. military sent two B-52 bombers from bases in the United States to the Middle East, which was the fourth time that the U.S. military made a similar deployment in the past two months.
The U.S. Air Force said in a statement that the mission was intended to “show the U.S. military’s enduring commitment to regional security and deterrence from violations.” The move shows that less than two weeks before Biden’s inauguration, the situation in the Middle East is still tense and the United States’ deterrent action will not ease.
The statement said that the crew flew 36 hours from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and returned after arriving in the Persian Gulf.
“The U.S. military sent a clear message of deterrence by demonstrating its ability to deploy overwhelming combat forces in a short period of time.”
An unnamed U.S. Defense Department official said of the operation: “We have seen that Iran’s defense system is constantly improving its readiness, and there are continuous indications that Iran has a complete plan for a possible attack in Iraq, but it is not clear whether and when they will launch an attack. Strike.
A few days ago, January 3 was the anniversary of the death of Suleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Al-Quds Brigade, who was attacked by the U.S. military.
A large number of Iraqis gathered at Baghdad airport to commemorate it.
According to CNN, some U.S. officials had feared that Iran would take revenge to commemorate the day, but there was no violence on January 3.
There are concerns that Iran may still seek opportunities for revenge.
CNN article pointed out that Iran seems to have chosen a carefully adjusted move: it announced that it would raise uranium enrichment to the level before the current US President Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement and seized a South Korean-flagged cargo ship.
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