US B-1B bomber takes off in Middle East amid Iran tensions – Times of India

Dubai: us Air Force said on Sunday it had flown a B-1B strategic bomber over key maritime posts Middle East With allies including Israel in the midst of ongoing tensions with Iran as its nuclear deal with world powers is in shambles.
NS B-1B Lancer Bomber On Saturday it flew over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil trade passes. It also flew over the Red Sea, its narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Suez Canal in Egypt.
The Strait of Hormuz has been the scene of attacks on shipping blamed on Iran in recent years, while the Red Sea has seen similar attacks amid the ongoing shadow war between Tehran and Israel. The Islamic Republic has denied involvement in the attacks, although it has promised revenge on Israel for a series of attacks targeting its nuclear program.
Fighters from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia flew with the bomber.

Iranian state media did not immediately acknowledge the flyover. Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The flyover comes after a pattern of such flights by nuclear-capable B-52 bombers as the Trump administration showed Iran to be a show of force. In 2018 Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Tehran agree to substantially limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Since that time, Iran has abandoned all limits on the deal and significantly reduced the ability of international inspectors to monitor its program. While Iran insists its program is peaceful, US intelligence agencies, Western watchdogs and others maintain that Tehran had a structured military nuclear weapons program as late as 2003.
President Joe Biden has said he is willing to re-enter the nuclear deal, but talks in Vienna have stalled because of staunch supporters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei taking over as president.
Biden, who sent B1-B bombers to the region, allowed him to send “a clear message of reassurance” to regional allies, as the US Air Force Central Command put it on Twitter. But this does not include nuclear capable bombers.
The B-1B came from the 37th Bomb Squadron based at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.