US flies B-1 bomber over Middle East amid tensions with Iran
The Pentagon is renewing show-of-strength flights over the Persian Gulf as the US waits for talks over Iran's nuclear program to resume.
The US flew a nuclear-capable B-1B bomber over major waterways of the Middle East, the Air Force said Sunday, in Washington’s latest show of force amid tensions and hopes for renewed negotiations with Iran.
Aircraft from US partners Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and Israel joined the bomber at various stages of the flight, which included a pass over the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint on the global oil trade and site of years-long tensions between the US and Iranian navies.
The B-1 also reportedly flew over the Red Sea, Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandeb.
The bomber took off from the US airbase on Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean that is likely to become increasingly important as Washington seeks to further shift the weight of its military presence from the Middle East to Asia and the Pacific.
