As Tensions with Iran Ramp Up, US Bombers Arrive in Middle East

Amid heightened tensions with Iran, the United States army deployed a fleet of B-52 Stratofortress bombers to an air base in Qatar. The Pentagon is also sending the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to the Gulf, where Tehran has threatened to disrupt the global oil supply by shutting the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The moves come just days after Israel’s Mossad spy agency reportedly transmitted intelligence to Washington of an alleged Iranian plot to attack American interests in the Middle East. In response, President Donald Trump on Thursday called on the mullahs to renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal, which he withdrew the US from exactly one year ago. The president added that there was a real risk of a military confrontation with the Islamic Republic, after the regime earlier this week announced it would no longer abide by various “voluntary” commitments stipulated in the atomic pact. Tehran also put Europe, Russia and China on notice, warning that it could resume enriching uranium to high levels unless the international community helps offset the intensifying pinch of US economic sanctions.