TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States has deployed more fighter jets to the Middle East amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday.
The U.S. military is bolstering its position in the Middle East by deploying additional squadrons of fighter jets to the region. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has presented President Donald Trump with a range of military options and is considering further deployments, officials said.
Citing a U.S. official, Washington has also extended the deployment period of air forces stationed in the region. According to the official, the deployment includes defensive air power involving fighter jets such as F-16, F-22, and F-35.
Al Arabiya English reported that several U.S. B-52 bombers were stationed in Diego Garcia, a strategic island base in the Indian Ocean. These bombers replaced the B-2 stealth bombers, which have been used in recent months to target heavily fortified Houthi underground weapon depots in Yemen.
The B-2 bombers remain the only U.S. aircraft capable of delivering the type of bombs needed to target and potentially destroy Iran's buried nuclear facilities, such as those at Fordow.
Meanwhile, no decision has been made to deploy the B-2 stealth bombers, capable of conducting long-range missions directly from the U.S. to the region. However, this could quickly change, said a former U.S. military commander in the Middle East.
"I imagine these aircraft could be deployed on short notice to forward staging bases in the region. They self-deploy - so easier to get them in place than all the other supporting assets - munitions, maintenance, other support," said Joseph Votel, former commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), to Al Arabiya English.
On Monday, the Pentagon ordered a second aircraft carrier and several destroyers to the Middle East, in addition to bomber aircraft and fighter jets. Al-Monitor reported earlier this month that additional assets were requested by U.S. military generals for the Middle East ahead of the eruption of conflict between Iran and Israel.
U.S. defense officials confirmed that more than a dozen U.S. Air Force refueling aircraft are en route to or stationed in the Middle East. The officials emphasized that so far, the U.S. military remains in a defensive posture and is not attacking Iran.
Several hours after the announcement of the addition of fighter jets to the Middle East, President Trump stated that his patience with Iran was "wearing thin" and issued an ultimatum to Iran to "surrender unconditionally."
Trump mentioned that the U.S. could easily eliminate Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, but chose not to do so at this time.
"We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trump said on Truth Social.
"But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" he added. "SURRENDER UNCONDITIONALLY!" Trump wrote in his next post.
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