Several US Air Force B-2 bombers appeared to have taken off from a base in the US and were headed across the Pacific, as President Donald Trump was expected to return to the White House on Saturday afternoon to meet his national security team on whether to join Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.
Air traffic control communications indicated that several B-2 aircraft — the planes that could be equipped to carry the 30,000-pound (9,072-kg) bunker-buster bombs that Trump is considering deploying against Iran’s underground nuclear facilities in Fordo — had taken off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
Some flight trackers said the destination of the aircraft is Guam, the US territory, which has several military installations, although that could not be independently confirmed. The bombers appeared to be accompanied by refuelling tankers for portions of the journey, the flight tracking data showed.
Moving planes does not mean a final decision has been made about whether to strike.
It is not unusual to shift military assets into position to provide options to the President and military commanders even if they are not ultimately deployed.
The White House schedule for the weekend said that Trump would return from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and would meet his national security team at 6pm on Saturday (3.30am IST on Sunday) and again on Sunday. Trump typically spends both weekend days out of town at one of his properties.
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment.
Trump has made clear he is weighing whether to have the US join Israel’s effort to curtail Iran’s ability to acquire a nuclear weapon, a line he has drawn repeatedly over the years.
But he also gave himself extra time to say what he intends to do. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday that the President would make a decision within the next two weeks as he gives Iran another chance to engage in talks.
The President has been seeking a deal with Iran for months, but became frustrated at the refusal of Iranian officials to agree to a proposal to end uranium enrichment on Iranian soil.
At the same time, the US intelligence community came to the conclusion in early June that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel planned to move forward with strikes against Iran, with or without US help. Those strikes began on June 12 and have continued since, killing multiple members of Iran’s military leadership and drawing retaliatory strikes from Iran against Israel.
New York Times News Service