Israeli jets once again escort US bombers through region
Israeli F-16i fighter jets escorted two American B-52 bombers Sunday as they made their way through Israeli airspace en route to the Persian Gulf, in an apparent show of force to Iran.
“The flight was held as part of close cooperation with the US military, which represents a significant element in ensuring the security of the State of Israel’s airspace and the Middle East,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
Israeli jets escorting American bombers have become a regular fixture in the skies of the Middle East in recent months, as tensions between Tehran and the West have risen amid an attempt to negotiate a refreshed nuclear agreement.
Last week US aircraft manufacturer Boeing signed a contract with the US Department of Defense to supply Israel with four KC-46 refueling planes. The multi-role aircraft makes mid-air refueling possible for fighter jets and other aircraft, but can also be used for military transport.
For Israel, the aircraft are seen as necessary to conduct potential major strikes against targets in Iran, some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Israel and far outside the normal flight range of Israeli jets.
שלושה מטוסי קרב מסוג ״סופה״ (F-16i) ליוו היום שני מפציצים אמריקאים מדגם B-52, אשר חצו את שמי מדינת ישראל בדרכם למפרץ.
הטיסה התקיימה כחלק משיתוף הפעולה ההדוק עם צבא ארה”ב, שמהווה נדבך משמעותי בשמירה על ביטחון שמי מדינת ישראל והמזרח התיכון pic.twitter.com/id3usq7XTH
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 4, 2022
European Union-sponsored talks have been ongoing for over a year to bring the US back into the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The deal, signed between Iran and the US, UK, France, Germany, China and Russia, has unraveled since the Trump administration pulled out in 2018. The US reimposed stiff sanctions and Iran responded by dropping many of its own commitments to the pact while also ramping up its uranium enrichment to levels far beyond the agreement’s limits. Highly enriched uranium is a key component of atomic bombs.
Israel reportedly believes the US and Iran are within weeks of reviving a nuclear deal, despite Washington saying Tehran’s latest response in negotiations was “not constructive.”
During their phone call last week, Prime Minister Yair Lapid urged US President Joe Biden to prepare a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, telling him that “only a credible US military plan will ensure the Iranians don’t try to cheat” if a nuclear deal is revived, Channel 12 reported.
Israel has long pushed the US to prepare a military option, and Biden said in July that he would be prepared to use force if necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.