

After escalating tensions in the region by attacking facilities and leaders from both Iraq and Iran, war hawks in Washington DC are now doubling-down on their World War III rhetoric by deploying six nuclear-enabled long-range B52 bombers to the contested British territorial island of Diego Garcia located in the Indian Ocean.

This latest deployment comes on the heals of two other recent B52 wing deployments, firstly beginning in 2016, when the Pentagon sent six bombers to Qatar near Iran, and also this past November 2019 when the US moved another wing of B52’s to the Mediterranean island of Crete, and quickly proceeded to use one of these aircraft to provoke the Russian air force in Syria.

US officials told CNN that Diego Garcia was chosen this time in order to keep the aircraft out of the range of Iranian missiles.

This latest move by Washington comes after the US bombed an Iraqi military facility on December 29, 2019, supposedly as retaliation for a “rocket barrage” which the US claim was carried out by “Iranian militias” (although no evidence has been shown to back this US claim) which hit a joint US-Iraqi base near Kirkuk and killed one “US defense contractor” on Dec 27, 2019. The US followed-up with that bombing raid by carrying out a double state-sponsored assassination of two highly respected Iranian and Iraqi military commanders, Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mouhendis just days after on Wed Jan 2, supposedly in response to Iraqi protesters who had attacked the outer ring of the US embassy in Baghdad on Dec 30th and 31st.

The US assassination of General Soleimani has prompted the Iraqi Parliament to issue a resolution which orders that US forces must finally leave Iraq – something which Washington said it refuses to do. Washington’s provocation raise the very real possibility of an Iranian retaliation against American military targets in the Middle East, which could easily trigger a chain of events that may spiral out of control, pitting the US and its allies against Iran and its allies, in a new multinational, multi-front world war.

US claim to have ordered the murder of Soleimani because he was supposedly “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” Washington also accused Soleimani of organizing the subsequent protester attacks against the US embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Still, no evidence or even hints about supposed “intelligence” in its possession – has ever been presented by Washington to validate any of its claims which attribute blame to Iran.

According to AP News agency, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that a “harsh retaliation is waiting” for the U.S.

Iranian state TV carried a statement by Khamenei calling Soleimani “the international face of resistance.” Khamenei declared three days of public mourning for the general’s death.

A member of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s office also warned US President Trump of gambling with his own country’s security by issuing endless threats through the White House and on Twitter.

“Trump through his gamble has dragged the U.S. into the most dangerous situation in the region,” said Hessameddin Ashena via Telegram.

“Whoever put his foot beyond the red line should be ready to face its consequences,” added Ashena.

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