Washington – The US has deployed F-22 stealth fighters to Qatar for thefirst time, its military said Friday, adding to a buildup of US forces inthe Gulf amid tensions with Iran.
The Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighters have been deployed “to defendAmerican forces and interests,” the US Air Forces Central Military Commandsaid in a statement that did not specify how many of the hi-tech planes hadbeen sent.
A photo handout showed five of the jets flying above the Al Udeid Air Basein Qatar.
Tehran and Washington have been locked in an escalating standoff since USPresident Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a multi-party 2015nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic republic.
Tensions spiked last week when Iran shot down a US drone over sensitiveGulf waters following a series of tanker attacks that Washington blamed onTehran, which has denied involvement.
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Since then the arch-foes have been locked in a war of words, whichescalated this week when Trump announced new sanctions against Iran’ssupreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Foreign Minister Mohammad JavadZarif.
Iran has threatened to abandon some of its commitments under the nucleardeal unless the remaining partners — Britain, China, France, Germany andRussia — help it circumvent US sanctions and especially sell its oil.
In May, the US Air Force deployed several nuclear-capable B-52Stratofortress bombers to the Gulf in response to what the DefenseDepartment described as a possible plan by Iran to attack American forcesin the region, as well as an aircraft carrier task force. -APP/AFP
