US sends B-52 bombers to Qatar to prevent Iran attack

B-52 bomber. Photo: AP

The US Department of Defense is moving to deploy four B-52 heavy bombers to the Middle East to counter a “credible” Iranian attack plan against the US and its allies in the region.

According to some sources, the US Department of Defense told CBS that 2 of the 4 aircraft left Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana (USA) to fly to Qatar on May 7.

The remaining two will join in the coming weeks. They will be based at the US Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters at al-Udeid Air Base near the Qatari capital Doha.

Previously, on May 6, the US aircraft carrier strike group USS Abraham Lincoln set off for the Persian Gulf.

Over the weekend, US National Security Adviser John Bolton announced that the US would deploy an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force near Iran “to send a clear and unmistakable message to Iran that any attack on US interests or those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.”

Although Mr. Bolton did not say specifically where the US had this concern, there was information that the US had received intelligence from Israel. On May 5, a US Defense Department official told The New York Times that Israeli intelligence had informed the US of this several weeks ago.

The US sent an aircraft carrier and bombers to the coast of Iran. Photo: AP

Responding to the US move, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized on Twitter: "If the US and its customers do not feel safe, it is because they have disregarded the people in the region. Blaming Iran will not change this."