US plans to send additional refuelling aircraft to Israel amid possible expansion of Iran ops: Axios

WASHINGTON: The US administration under President Donald Trump has informed Israel that it intends to deploy dozens of additional military refuelling aircraft to the country as Washington weighs a possible expansion of its military campaign against Iran, according to Axios, citing three US and Israeli officials.

According to Axios, the proposed deployment comes after Trump reviewed multiple military options during a Situation Room meeting earlier this week.

The options under consideration reportedly include strikes on Iranian energy and civilian infrastructure such as power plants, additional attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities to further bury its stockpile of enriched uranium, and a possible strike on the underground Pickaxe Mountain site, which is suspected to be under development.

Axios reported that Trump has not yet taken a final decision on expanding military operations but is considering a broader offensive aimed at inflicting sufficient damage to pressure Tehran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz and accepting US demands related to its nuclear programme.

BREAKING: Trump sends dozens of additional refueling aircraft to Israel as the region braces for a possible major escalation with Iran. pic.twitter.com/xBJAGvWF11

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US and Israeli officials cited by Axios said such an escalation could be ordered within the coming days. The report comes as the US military has continued strikes against Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz and southern Iran for several consecutive days.

According to a US official quoted by Axios, American forces recently struck at least seven bridges around Bandar Abbas, a key logistics hub for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with the objective of disrupting the movement of ammunition, supplies and reinforcements.

In retaliation, Iran has intensified attacks targeting US military facilities in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq and Kuwait. The IRGC has additionally claimed responsibility for an attack on a US base in Syria, although the report noted that American troops had withdrawn from that base several months earlier.

According to Axios, the US currently has around 30 military refuelling aircraft stationed at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv and a similar number at Ramon Airport in southern Israel.

Israeli officials told Axios that Washington plans to deploy several dozen more refuelling aircraft in the coming days, restoring the fleet to levels seen at the start of the conflict. The report said the US military prefers operating the aircraft from Ben Gurion Airport because other regional air bases are considered more vulnerable to potential Iranian attacks.

Axios further reported that the proposed deployment has become a politically sensitive issue in Israel, with the large number of US refuelling aircraft occupying significant space at Ben Gurion Airport as commercial air traffic resumes during the summer travel season.

According to the report, Israel’s Transport Minister Miri Regev has urged that the number of US aircraft operating from Ben Gurion be reduced or relocated, while the Defence Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have opposed the proposal.

The report added that the Trump administration has formally requested the Israeli government to accommodate the additional aircraft, with the final decision expected to rest with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (ANI)