{"id":14467,"date":"2026-07-23T09:32:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T04:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14467"},"modified":"2026-07-23T09:32:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T04:32:50","slug":"u-s-deploys-b-1-bomber-as-attacks-on-iran-intensify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14467","title":{"rendered":"U.S. deploys B-1 bomber as attacks on Iran intensify"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/2c8xm4Lz9T8sbMRrBOpUYkE1rhQ=\/0x0:3936x2214\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/23\/1784773756658.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. military used a B-1 long-range bomber on Tuesday to strike Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran, U.S. officials said. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> It was the first time the U.S. conducted a B-1 mission since fighting with Iran resumed 12 days ago. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>Using B-1 bombers, which can carry two dozen 2,000-lb. bombs or dozens of cruise missiles, signaled a significant escalation and expansion of the U.S. military campaign. <\/li>\n<li>The B-1 can fly faster than the speed of sound at low altitudes while carrying the largest bomb load of any type of bomber. <\/li>\n<li>Amid a continued U.S. military build up in the region, President Trump is still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/21\/iran-war-ceasefire-proposal-trump-troops\" target=\"_blank\">considering<\/a> returning to major combat operations against Iran. U.S. and Israeli officials say this could happen within days. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Driving the news:<\/strong> The B-1 launched its mission from an airbase in the UK and was spotted on online plane tracking websites. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) didn&#8217;t announce the B-1 mission in its statement on Tuesday about the strikes that day.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure to further degrade Iran&#8217;s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,&#8221; the statement read.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s unclear what the B-1 attacked and whether the massive mission was more effective than other strikes over the last few days.  <\/li>\n<li>The U.S. conducted several B-1 missions during Operation Epic Fury, hitting missile bases, command centers, weapons storage facilities and air defense systems.       <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>State of play:<\/strong> Despite the expansion of U.S. strikes, the Iranian regime hasn&#8217;t seemed to change its position on the Strait of Hormuz. And it is still conducting attacks against U.S. bases in the region. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some U.S. defense officials say Iran&#8217;s military capability around the Strait of Hormuz &#8220;is almost nonexistent,&#8221; but others say Iran is still capable of attacking ships in the area. <\/li>\n<li>On Wednesday, President Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/22\/trump-iran-bridges-power-plants-hormuz\" target=\"_blank\">threatened<\/a> to bomb bridges and power plants, including in Tehran, if Iran attacks more ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by threatening infrastructure in Gulf countries allied with the U.S.   <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom out:<\/strong> Also on Wednesday, Houthi rebels attacked Saudi ships for the first time since they announced a blockade on Saudi ports. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A U.S. defense official said the Houthi attacks, after months of almost entirely staying out of the war, could be motivated by Iran. <\/li>\n<li>The official said Iran wants to use the Houthis to create a new front in the Red Sea in addition to the Gulf, and to create pressure on another critical international oil<strong> <\/strong>shipping route.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Several<\/strong> commercial vessels transiting through the Red Sea were seen changing course on Wednesday to avoid passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, fearing Houthi attacks.  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What to watch:<\/strong> U.S. officials said Qatari mediators are still talking to U.S., Iranian and Omani officials to try to reach a new deal to reopen<strong> <\/strong>the Strait of Hormuz and stop the fighting, according to sources with knowledge. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One regional source said Iranian leadership hasn&#8217;t accepted the latest proposal put forward by the mediators. <\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s unclear how long Trump will give the diplomatic efforts. &#8220;They&#8217;re getting hit so hard, and they want to make a deal,&#8221; Trump said in a speech in Georgia Wednesday night.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;But I say they&#8217;re not ready to make a deal because every time they make a deal they want to change it and everything. They&#8217;re not ready. They will be ready very soon.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. military used a B-1 long-range bomber on Tuesday to strike Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran, U.S. officials said. Why it matters: It was the first time the U.S. conducted a B-1 mission since fighting with Iran resumed 12 days ago. Using B-1 bombers, which can carry two dozen 2,000-lb. bombs or&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/2c8xm4Lz9T8sbMRrBOpUYkE1rhQ=\/0x0:3936x2214\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/23\/1784773756658.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}