(PatrioticPost.com)- If U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers go near Iran’s airspace, they will be met with a “crushing and fiery response,” according to a senior military commander in Iran.
On Sunday, Qader Rahimzadeh said even the “smallest potential violation of Iran’s airspace” would result in the response he described. Rahimzadeh, who is the deputy commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, said:
“The country’s airspace is among our redlines and, as enemies have experienced in the past, too, the smallest violation will be met with the (Iranian) air defense forces’ crushing and fiery response.”
On Thursday, B-52 bombers form the U.S. Air Force flew over the Persian Gulf to deter attacks from the Iranians. It was a mission that was meant to show force and an indirect threat from America.
A New York Times report said the bombers flew alongside other aircraft from the countries of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. They were most likely fighter jets, which are supplied by the U.S., such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-15 Eagle fighters.
The U.S. military said the mission was “designed to deter aggression” as well as assure the United States’ allies that America can deploy military power rapidly if need be. It was a short-notice mission that was flown non-stop across the Atlanta from the Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
As the U.S. Central Command tweeted:
“A pair of U.S. Air Force B-52H ‘Stratofortresses’ assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base operated in the CENTCOM area of responsibility with other @usairforce and regional partner aircraft in the second mission in as many months.”
The B-52 is an aircraft that was featured prominently during the Vietnam War. It has the nickname of Stratofortress and is sometimes referred to as the Big Ugly Fat Fellow.
As General Frank McKenzie, who serves as the top commander in the U.S. for the Middle East, said in a statement:
“The ability to fly strategic bombs halfway across the world in a non-stop mission and to rapidly integrate them with multiple regional partners demonstrates our close working relationships and our shared commitment to regional security and stability.”
This is the second time in less than a month that the bombers flew over the region to show the power of the American military. It also comes at a time when President Donald Trump has been drawing down the number of American troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Many have worried that the U.S. is abandoning the Middle East region, and that this is going to leave U.S. targets or even allies susceptible for attacks from Iran. They are specifically worried about retaliatory attacks coming for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a nuclear scientist in Iran, or Qassem Soleimani, the top general of Iran who was killed last year.
While the U.S. took credit for Soleimani’s killing immediately, Iran has blamed Israel for the killing of Fakhrizadeh. The country claims he wasn’t involved in any nuclear research related to weapons.
