Open-source satellite imagery produced by Planet Labs on March 25 showed the presence of up to seven US Air Force B-2 Spirit strategic bombers on the island of Diego Garcia – three on a parking apron / live ordnance loading area and probably four more in hardened shelters. Alongside them on the tarmac were several KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling aircraft and three C-17 transport planes.
This build-up sparked some social media to wonder if the deployment of these strategic assets signaled a readiness to increase US strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. However, others suggested that the presence of refueling aircraft indicated the potential for a longer-range strike – with Iran being the favorite as the intended target.
Military analysts note that any US strike on Iran’s underground dispersed nuclear facilities would necessitate coordinated, long-range precision attacks by bombers supported and protected by aircraft from pre-positioned naval platforms, i.e., one or more of 12 full-size aircraft carriers in the US Navy fleet.
This analysis came amid reports that the US Carrier Strike Group 1, led by the USS Carl Vinson, would shortly move to the region and be supplemented by Carrier Strike Group 8 centered around the USS Harry S Truman.
The arrival of the aircraft took place over 48 hours and just days after the US Strategic Command said that Iran was accelerating its preparations of highly enriched uranium and could have enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear warhead in under a week.
The US news website Axios reported on March 17 that US President Donald Trump warned that he considered Iran would be responsible for any further attacks by the Houthis and threatened “dire consequences” if they continued.
On March 19 Trump sent a strongly worded letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei laying down a two-month deadline for reaching a new nuclear deal – which Iran dismissed, saying the offer to negotiate a new nuclear deal was “a deception.”
In response Tehran said that Iran doesn’t want war but if the US “makes the wrong move, Iran’s retaliation is decisive and the one who will lose the most is America.”
Perhaps to underline its preparedness to resist US threats Iran republished an October 2024 video on Tuesday that showed Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force driving through Iran’s underground “Missile City” – designed to show Iran could strike over any distance against any target.
The video led to social media commentary that suggested Iran had put “all of its eggs in one basket” that would be a tempting target for the B-2’s GBU-57A/B MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) precision-guided, 14,000 kilogram (30,000-pound) “bunker buster” bomb.