F-22 fighters deployed near Iranian border; they will join a growing US naval armada
The U.S. military has deployed F-22s, the nation’s most advanced fighter jets, to a base near the Iranian border, saying it is merely a routine move, and not meant as a show of force against Iran or Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The news of the deployment of several F-22s to an allied base less than 200 miles from Iran comes from a report on Fox news. The media organization has also been told by officials that the fighter jets are now in the United Arab Emirates’ Al Dhafra Air Base, which is a fact first reported by Aviation Week apparently.
But the raptor stealth jets are joining an increasing number of Navy carriers, submarines, cruisers, destroyers, patrol boats and minesweepers, which have been enhanced with the the newest ‘close-in’ weaponry, says a Wired.com story. It seems to some that the US is increasing its stealth-jet ‘armada’ near Iran for a reason beyond just being a routine move. The Iranian government announced last week that a number of areas in the Persian Gulf would be off limits to U.S. warships, according to a report in The Hill. They would treat any incursion as being a threat towards Iran, they said.
Months ago Iran began an alarming conflict with nations over sanctions, threatening to close down the Straits of Hormuz and disrupt oil trading an article in the Daily Mail reported. The U.S. warned that it would not allow Iran to shut down one of the world’s busiest shipping routes in revenge for sanctions. Iran eventually backed off, but only after it banned U.S. Navy warships from entering the waterway.
The next round of nuclear negotiations with Iran will be May 23 in Baghdad. Many consider it to be a last diplomatic chance over the ongoing issue of its nuclear program.
