US beefs up military might in Middle East after unleashing powerful B-1 bombers to attack Iran

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is flooding the Middle East with elite troops, fighter jets and combat medics, and unleashed a powerful B-1 bomber to strike Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets for the first time in the war — as President Trump weighs widening the fight against Iran.

The US has surged special operations forces into the Middle East and repositioned fighter squadrons across the region after four US troops were killed over the past week, according to flight tracking data.

More than 150 medics have also been sent to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany — the military’s primary hospital for wounded troops from the Middle East — in preparation for potential additional casualties, the The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the US military also deployed a B-1 long-range bomber on Tuesday, US officials told Axios. It was the first time the US conducted a B-1 mission since fighting with Iran resumed 12 days ago — and signals a notable escalation in the war, the outlet noted.

The military buildup comes as Iran’s missiles and drones are showing an increasingly deadly level of precision.

A strike on Friday killed three US troops when a missile struck the prefabricated housing where American service members lived and slept. Three ballistic missiles pierced US air defenses during a series of attacks on the base, highlighting the growing challenge of protecting roughly 50,000 US troops stationed across the region.