The move signals the U.S. is getting the bombers in place if they are needed for a strike on Iran, but officials said there had been no order given to ready a B-2 strike.
The Pentagon is moving stealthy B-2 bombers over the Pacific from their Air Force base in Missouri, a sign the Trump administration is getting them in place if needed for a strike on Iran. The B-2s can carry the GBU-57 bunker buster, the 30,000-pound conventional weapon that defense analysts say has the best chance of damaging Iranâs Fordow uranium-enrichment facility.
President Trump continues to deliberate over whether to join Israelâs military campaign against Iran and has said he would decide âwithin two weeks.â Trump had earlier told senior aides that he had approved of attack plans for Iran, but was waiting to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program, people familiar with the deliberations said.
Israelâs military continued its strikes on Iranâs military leadership and nuclear infrastructure on Saturday. The military said it had killed three more senior Iranian military leaders and hit Iranâs Isfahan nuclear facility. Israelâs top general has warned that the war could be lengthy, calling it the most complex military campaign in the countryâs history.
Iran, for its part, remains defiant, telling diplomats this week that it wonât end its enrichment of nuclear fuel and wonât enter talks with the U.S. unless Israel stops its attacks. Foreign ministers from a group of Muslim-majority countries are expected to call for a cease-fire during a gathering this weekend in Istanbul.
What else to know:
The U.S. has been beefing up its forces in the region. A third U.S. Navy destroyer entered the eastern Mediterranean Sea and a second U.S. carrier strike group is heading toward the Arabian Sea. The Pentagon says the moves are defensive.
