Pentagon Deploys Warplanes with ‘Bunker Busting’ Bombs to Deter Iran

A-10 Thunderbolt II reconnaissance support aircraft arrive at al-Dhafra Airport in the UAE (US airforce)
A-10 Thunderbolt II reconnaissance support aircraft arrive at al-Dhafra Airport in the UAE (US airforce)
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Pentagon Deploys Warplanes with ‘Bunker Busting’ Bombs to Deter Iran

A-10 Thunderbolt II reconnaissance support aircraft arrive at al-Dhafra Airport in the UAE (US airforce)
A-10 Thunderbolt II reconnaissance support aircraft arrive at al-Dhafra Airport in the UAE (US airforce)

The US mil­i­tary is for the first time putting 250-pound “bunker bust­ing” bombs on at­tack air­craft re­cently sent to the Mid­dle East in the lat­est move to de­ter Iran, US of­fi­cials said.

Wall Street Journal reported that the de­ci­sion to put more pow­er­ful weapons on a squadron of A-10 Warthogs was de­signed to give pi­lots a greater chance of suc­cess in de­stroy­ing am­mu­ni­tion bunkers and other en­trenched tar­gets in Iraq and Syria, where US forces have been re­peat­edly tar­geted by Iran-backed fight­ers.

The move marks the first time that the US mil­i­tary will put these pre­ci­sion-guided weapons on board the Warthogs, which were re­cently re­fit­ted so that they could each carry up to 16 bunker busters, known for­mally as GBU-39/B bombs.

The pow­er­ful bombs are ar­riv­ing in the Mid­dle East at a time of height­ened ten­sions with Iran.

On Thurs­day, Iran’s Rev­o­lu­tion­ary Guard Corps (IRGC) de­tained an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as it car­ried crude to the US from Kuwait.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich said the A-10s are highly ef­fec­tive at some things we need to do.

Grynkewich over­sees US mil­i­tary op­er­a­tions in the skies above Syria and 20 other na­tions in the Mid­dle East and South­east Asia as head of the US Air Forces Cen­tral Com­mand.

The new squadron rep­re­sents a 50 percent in­crease in the num­ber of at­tack air­craft in the re­gion, Grynkewich said.

The Pen­tagon sent the Warthog squadron, usu­ally around 12 planes, to the Mid­dle East last month af­ter Iran-backed forces car­ried out a se­ries of at­tacks on US bases in Syria, in­clud­ing one sui­cide-drone strike that killed a US con­trac­tor.

US Pres­i­dent Joe Biden re­sponded to the at­tacks by or­der­ing airstrikes on Iran-backed mil­i­tants in Syria.

Mov­ing the Warthogs into the Mid­dle East was part of a broader ef­fort to beef up the US mil­i­tary pres­ence amid ris­ing con­cerns about at­tacks by Iran and its mil­i­tant al­lies across the re­gion.

The up­grade will give the Warthogs more fire­power than F-15 jet fight­ers, US of­fi­cials said.

It also rep­re­sents an ad­vance on the mil­i­tary’s ef­forts to demon­strate the value of the ag­ing Warthog fleet that Pen­tagon of­fi­cials have been try­ing to re­tire for more than a decade.

The US mil­i­tary also an­nounced the ar­rival last month of a guided-mis­sile sub­ma­rine in the Mid­dle East, a pub­lic show of force.
At the time, US of­fi­cials said they had in­tel­li­gence that Iran was pre­paring to carry out a drone at­tack on a com­mer­cial ship in the re­gion, some­thing Wash­ing­ton has ac­cused Tehran of do­ing sev­eral times in re­cent years.

Meanwhile, new research by Uk-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR) revealed that the Shahed-136 drones sold to Russia by Iran are powered by an engine based on German technology – technology illicitly acquired by Iran almost 20 years ago.

The finding – made through a detailed examination of components recovered in Ukraine and shared exclusively with CNN – underlines Iran’s ability to mimic and finesse military technology it has obtained illegitimately.

CNN reported that Western officials are also concerned that Russia may share Western-made weapons and equipment recovered on the Ukrainian battlefield with the Iranians. So far, there’s no firm evidence that this has happened.



Jailed PKK Leader Ocalan Says Armed Struggle with Türkiye Over

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo
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Jailed PKK Leader Ocalan Says Armed Struggle with Türkiye Over

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to declare the group's armed struggle against Türkiye over and called for a full transition to democratic politics.

In the recording, dated June and released by Firat News Agency, which is close to the PKK, Ocalan urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage a broader peace process.

"The phase of armed struggle has ended. This is not a loss, but a historic gain," he said. "The armed struggle stage must now be voluntarily replaced by a phase of democratic politics and law."

The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades and is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, decided in May to disband after an initial written appeal from Ocalan in February.

Since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984 – originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state – the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, imposed a heavy economic burden and fueled deep social and political divisions.

The video marks a rare and potentially pivotal moment in the long-running conflict, offering what could be President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most significant opportunity yet to seal a political settlement to the Kurdish issue, should his government choose to respond, Reuters reported.

It also comes before PKK militants begin handing over their weapons in groups in northern Iraq's Sulaymaniyah on Friday, in a major step in the process.

Seated in a beige polo shirt with a glass of water on the table in front of him, Ocalan appeared to read from a transcript in the seven-minute video – the first public footage or audio of him since his arrest in 1999. Six other jailed PKK members sat beside him, all looking directly at the camera.

He said the PKK, which has been based in northern Iraq's mountainous regions in recent years, had ended its separatist agenda.

"The main objective has been achieved – existence has been acknowledged. What remains would be excessive repetition and a dead end," he said.

Ocalan added that Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the third largest in parliament and which played a key role facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision, should work alongside other political parties to advance the peace process.

The PKK and DEM expect Ankara to address Kurdish political demands, potentially before weapons in Türkiye are handed over.

Ocalan's message came a day after Ibrahim Kalin, head of Türkiye's MIT intelligence agency, visited Baghdad for high-level meetings with Iraqi officials, the agency said. Kalin had earlier visited Erbil in northern Iraq as well.

Talks focused on strengthening border security and steps toward a "terror-free Türkiye," with the Iraqi government voicing full support for joint efforts to eliminate armed groups from the region.