Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday issued a warning to the United States, after the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that B-52 bomber aircraft had conducted a second "presence patrol" in the Middle East. “If your B-52H ‘Presence Patrols’ are meant to intimidate or warn Iran, you should have spent those $billions on your taxpayers' health,” Zarif wrote in a tweet directed at President Donald Trump. “While we have not started a war in over 200 years, we don’t shy from crushing aggressors. Just ask your BFFs who supported Saddam,” he added. The threatening tweet came after CENTCOM tweeted about a B-52 bomber aircraft conducting what was described as a "second Middle East presence patrol of 2021 as key part of CENTCOM’s defensive posture". "Short-term deployments of strategic assets are an important part of our defensive posture in the region," said Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of CENTCOM. "The training opportunity and continued integration with regional partners improves readiness and delivers a clear and consistent message in the operational environment to both friends and potential adversaries, alike," he added. The US military has several times flown the nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East in recent weeks. The bombers were sent from the US amid ongoing tensions with Iran in the region. Following a recent rocket attack on the US embassy in Baghdad, President Donald Trump warned that he would hold "Iran responsible" for any fatal attack on Americans in Iraq. Zarif later warned Trump against any "adventurism" before leaving the White House. He also claimed that his country had intelligence showing that Israel would attack US forces in Iraq in an attempt to provoke a war and urged Trump not to fall into that “trap”.
