US begins moving B-2 bombers

The Pentagon is moving stealthy B-2 bombers over the Pacific from their Air Force base in Missouri, a sign the Trump administration is getting them in place if needed for a strike on Iran.

The B-2s can carry the GBU-57 bunker buster, the 30,000-pound conventional weapon that defense analysts say has the best chance of damaging Iran’s Fordow uranium-enrichment facility.

President Trump continues to deliberate over whether to join Israel’s military campaign against Iran and has said he would decide “within two weeks.” Trump had earlier told senior aides that he had approved of attack plans for Iran, but was waiting to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program, people familiar with the deliberations said.

Israel’s military continued its strikes on Iran’s military leadership and nuclear infrastructure on Saturday. The military said it had killed three more senior Iranian military leaders and hit Iran’s Isfahan nuclear facility. Israel’s top general has warned that the war could be lengthy, calling it the most complex military campaign in the country’s history.

Iran, for its part, remains defiant, telling diplomats this week that it won’t end its enrichment of nuclear fuel and won’t enter talks with the U.S. unless Israel stops its attacks. Foreign ministers from a group of Muslim-majority countries are expected to call for a cease-fire during a gathering this weekend in Istanbul.

Houthi militants warned that they would resume targeting U.S. warships and commercial ships in the Red Sea if the U.S. launches attacks in support of Israel. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov also added that Moscow would react “very negatively” if Israel were to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader with US assistance.

It is possible that Mr Trump is moving these bombers as one last attempt to force Iran into agreeing to complete denuclearization and inspectors there. It could be that those bombers can stop if Iran finally agrees to completely abandoning any nuclear aspirations, but that those bombers will deliver the GBU-57 bunker buster if Iran does not fold.