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Zarif reacts to US B-52s: We do not shy away from crushing aggressors

Sunday, 17 January 2021 7:23 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 January 2021 8:16 AM ]

A handout photo made available by the Iranian Army office on January 14, 2021, shows a Noor long-range anti-ship missile fired during an Iranian navy military drill in the Gulf of Oman. (Photo by AFP)

Iran’s foreign minister has reacted to recent overflights by US strategic B-52H bomber planes, noting that the Iranian nation will never be intimidated by such shows of force.

Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks in a tweet on Sunday, emphasizing that Iranians are not a belligerent nation and “have not started a war in over 200 years.”

“We don’t shy [away] from crushing aggressors,” Iran’s foreign minister, however, added.

Zarif also advised the administration of the outgoing US President Donald Trump not to waste the American taxpayers’ money on such empty moves, saying, “You should have spent those $billions on your taxpayers' health,” in a clear allusion to grave situation of the United States in terms of controlling the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives.

.@Potus : If your B-52H “Presence Patrols” are meant to intimidate or warn Iran, you should have spent those $billions on your taxpayers' health.

While we have not started a war in over 200 years, we don’t shy from crushing aggressors. Just ask your BFFs who supported Saddam. pic.twitter.com/3OqNVY47dW
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 17, 2021

Zarif’s tweet came hours after the US Central Command announced that the B-52H “Stratofortress” aircrews conducted a “presence patrol” in the Middle East on Sunday to mark the second such mission in 2021.

Saudi Arabian, US air forces wrap up joint military exercise in Persian Gulf region

Saudi Arabia’s Royal Air Force (RSAF) and the US Air Force conclude a joint military exercise.

“Bomber Task Force missions are observable ways to demonstrate the US military's continuing commitment to regional security,” US Central Command’s Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie claimed in a Sunday statement.

Last week, the US and Saudi Arabia concluded joint war games, with Saudi F-15SE warplanes flying besides American B-52 bombers and F-16 fighters.

The Saudi air force, the Royal Saudi Naval Force, the US Navy, the US Coast Guard and the US Air Force conducted joint air operations in the Persian Gulf between December 17 and 18 last year.

In response to such provocative moves, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps conducted two-days of major drills codenamed the Great Prophet 15, in central Iran, in which it tests its latest ballistic missiles and combat drones.

The first round of the drills, codenamed the Great Prophet 15, was held with mass launches of ballistic ground-to-ground missiles and operations by combat bomber drones.

Iran's IRGC kicks off missile, drone exercises in massive military drills

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) kicks off massive military drills in central Iran, testing its latest ballistic missiles and combat drones.

During the second day of maneuvers, Iran's home-grown ballistic missiles destroyed mock enemy warships with pinpoint accuracy, hundreds of kilometers away, in the northern Indian Ocean.

Iran's top military commander, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, described the launch of ballistic missiles to destroy the hypothetical enemy’s warships from a distance of 1,800 kilometers as "meaningful," warning enemies against threats to Iran’s national interests.

IRGC's ballistic missiles destroy mock enemy warships 1,800 kilometers away during drills

Iran

“Choosing a barrage of long-range missiles against naval targets illustrates that if the enemies of the Islamic Republic have ill intentions against our national interests, maritime trade routes, and territory, they will come under missile strike and will be destroyed,” he stated.

On the same day, Fox News reported that long-range missiles launched by the Iranian forces landed 100 miles from the Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group belonging to the United States.

“At least two Iranian ballistic missiles exploded on impact when they hit the ocean, sending shards of debris in all directions,” claimed the report.