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US Bombers Fly over Middle East in ‘Strategic’ Show of Deterrence

B-52H crews conduct second Middle East presence patrol of 2021 as key part of CENTCOM’s defensive posture. (CENTCOM)
B-52H crews conduct second Middle East presence patrol of 2021 as key part of CENTCOM’s defensive posture. (CENTCOM)
    London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat
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US Bombers Fly over Middle East in ‘Strategic’ Show of Deterrence

B-52H crews conduct second Middle East presence patrol of 2021 as key part of CENTCOM’s defensive posture. (CENTCOM)
B-52H crews conduct second Middle East presence patrol of 2021 as key part of CENTCOM’s defensive posture. (CENTCOM)

US B-52H Stratofortress bombers flew over the Middle East on Sunday in a show of military strength amid heightened tensions with Iran.

“Short-term deployments of strategic assets are an important part of our defensive posture in the region,” said Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of CENTCOM. McKenzie added that the mission “delivers a clear and consistent message in the operational environment to both friends and potential adversaries, alike.”

At least one B-52 assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing flew over the Middle East in an “observable” demonstration of military power, the US Central Command said in a press release on Sunday.

The flight is the second of its kind this year, and the fifth in recent months, the Command wrote.

The bombers flew over Israel towards the Arabian Gulf.

Further, long-range missiles from Iran splashed down close to a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean Saturday and 160 kilometers from the Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group, Fox News reported, in the latest example of rising tensions in the region.

Iran’s navy had kicked off a short-range missile drill in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday.

A wide array of ground-to-ground ballistic missiles and drones were used to target “hypothetical enemy bases” during the first phase of the drill. The Zolfaqar, Zelzel and Dezful missiles, which officials claim are “able to break through enemy's defense systems,” were used in the drill.

Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the aerospace division of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, said: “The missile program is a means for producing power and security for Iran.”

He noted that various classes of long-range ballistic missiles were launched in the final stage of the war game on Saturday morning to detonate the hypothetical enemy’s warships from a distance of 1,800 kilometers north of the Indian Ocean.

“Today, our goal was to destroy the enemy fleet in the northern Indian Ocean, 1,800 km away,” Hajizadeh added.

Guards chief Major General Hossein Salami stated: “One of our major goals in defense policies and strategies is to be able to target enemy ships, including aircraft carriers and battleships, using long-range ballistic missiles.”

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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye on Thursday insisted the PKK and all groups allied with it must disarm and disband "immediately", a week after a historic call by the Kurdish militant group's jailed founder.

"The PKK and all groups affiliated with it must end all terrorist activities, dissolve and immediately and unconditionally lay down their weapons," a Turkish defense ministry source said.

The remarks made clear the demand referred to all manifestations of Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, costing tens of thousands of lives.

Although the insurgency targeted Türkiye, the PKK's leadership is based in the mountains of northern Iraq and its fighters are also part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key force in northeastern Syria.

Last week, Ocalan made a historic call urging the PKK to dissolve and his fighters to disarm, with the group on Saturday accepting his call and declaring a ceasefire.

The same day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that if the promises were not kept, Turkish forces would continue their anti-PKK operations.

"If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay... or deceive... we will continue our ongoing operations... until we eliminate the last terrorist," he said.

- Resonance in Syria, Iraq -

Since 2016, Türkiye has carried out three major military operations in northern Syria targeting PKK militants, which it sees as a strategic threat along its southern border.

Ankara has made clear it wants to see all PKK fighters disarmed wherever they are -- notably those in the US-backed SDF, which it sees as part of the PKK.

The SDF -- the bulk of which is made up of the Kurdish YPG -- spearheaded the fight that ousted ISIS extremists from Syria in 2019, and is seen by much of the West as crucial to preventing an extremist resurgence.

Last week, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's call for the PKK to lay down its weapons but said it "does not concern our forces" in northeastern Syria.

But Türkiye disagrees.

Since the toppling of Syria's Bashar al-Assad in December, Ankara has threatened military action unless YPG militants are expelled, deeming them to be a regional security problem.

"Our fundamental approach is that all terrorist organizations should disarm and be dissolved in Iraq and Syria, whether they are called the PKK, the YPG or the SDF," Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's ruling AKP, said on Monday.

Ocalan's call also affects Iraq, with the PKK leadership holed up in the mountainous north where Turkish forces have staged multiple air strikes in recent years.

Turkish forces have also established numerous bases there, souring Ankara's relationship with Baghdad.

"We don't want either the PKK or the Turkish army on our land... Iraq wants everyone to withdraw," Iraq's national security adviser Qassem al-Araji told AFP.

"Turkish forces are (in Iraq) because of the PKK's presence," he said, while pointing out that Türkiye had "said more than once that it has no territorial ambitions in Iraq".