Iranian cmdr. warns of ‘fiery response’ after US sends bombers to Middle East

A senior Iranian commander warns that the smallest potential violation of the Islamic Republic’s airspace is to be followed by a “fiery response” after the United States sends its B-52H bombers on an overflight mission above the Persian Gulf.

Brigadier General Qader Rahimzadeh, the second-in-command of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, delivered the caution on Saturday.

On Thursday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) had said that two of the warplanes had been flown nonstop from Louisiana to the Middle East as on an alleged short-notice mission.

US flies two B-52s over Persian Gulf amid tensions with Iran

The US military has flown two B-52H bombers from Louisiana to the Middle East as tensions mount in the region following the assassination of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist.

“The country’s airspace is among our redlines and, as enemies have experienced in the past too, the smallest violation will be met with the [Iranian] air defense forces’ crushing and fiery response,” the commander said.

Iran’s surveillance operations, he added, covers the entire range of movements that are carried out by the regional and extra-regional forces, including the bombers that were sent to fly more than 150 kilometers (93 miles) away from the country’s borders.

The American aircraft have been scrambled to the region following the late November assassination of senior Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh near Tehran.

The Islamic Republic has vowed to avenge the assassination, which was apparently an Israeli job. Several Iranian nuclear experts have been martyred so far in targeted killings that are linked to the Israeli regime. 

The Iranian military official reminded that given the country's strategic position and back-to-back hostile actions that have been trying to target the Islamic establishment, the Islamic Republic's integrated air defense monitors the movements of manned and unmanned aircraft around the country under constant watch.

“The air defense analyzes these movements, and devises and implements proportional plans after learning about the enemies’ [potential] targets and behavior,” Rahimzadeh said.

He said some regional countries were interested in enlisting the cooperation of other countries from the region and beyond to supposedly ensure their own security.

This inclination, he noted, had led to some aerial maneuvering by certain regional countries outside Iran’s flight information region (FIR) over the Persian Gulf last week. His comments also came after a senior US military official told NBC News that aircraft from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar had flown alongside the US bombers during portions of the flight.

Rahimzadeh reminded Iran’s neighbors that the country’s air defense keeps these activities under complete surveillance, too.

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