US B-52 bombers land in Qatar over unspecified Iran threat

B-52 bombers ordered by the White House to deploy to the Persian Gulf to counter unspecified threats from Iran have arrived at a major American air base in Qatar, the U.S. Air Force acknowledged Friday.

Images released by the U.S. Air Force’s Central Command showB-52H Stratofortress bombers arriving at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Thursdaynight.

   

Others landed at an undisclosed location Wednesday in”southwest Asia,” the Air Force said. The U.S. Military in the pasthas described its presence at both the Al Dhafra Air Base in the United ArabEmirates and Al Udeid as “southwest Asia.” The Air Force identifiedthe aircraft as coming from the 20th Bomb Squadron of Barksdale Air Force Basein Louisiana.

On Sunday, the White House announced it would send the USSAbraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and the bombers into the PersianGulf to counter Tehran.           

The Lincoln on Thursday passed through the Suez Canal on itsway to the Persian Gulf.

The administration of President Donald Trump has not offeredspecific details of the threat allegedly presented by Iran.

On Wednesday, Iran announced it would begin backing awayfrom its nuclear deal with world powers, a year after Trump pulled America fromthe accord. President Hassan Rouhani gave European leaders a 60-day deadline tofind a way to shield Iran from U.S. Sanctions targeting its economy and oilindustry, otherwise he said Tehran would begin to enrich uranium at levelscloser to weapons-grade levels.

The European Union on Thursday urged Iran to respect theinternational agreement curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions, andadded that the bloc aims to continue trading with the country despite U.S.Sanctions. But so far, the EU and its member nations have not offered any newplans.

For his part, Trump said he wanted to speak to Iran’sleaders.

“What I would like to see with Iran, I would like tosee them call me,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House.

There was no immediate reaction from Iran, which in the pasthas said it turned down Trump’s requests for meetings.

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