Over 800 Iranian Scientists Urge Air Force To ‘Shatter Unreal and Fabricated Image’ Of American Power By Tackling Its B-52 Bombers

Following the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahavadi in late November 2020, in an attack widely blamed on the United States and its allies, tensions between the Islamic Republic and the Western superpower have continued to rise. The U.S. has dispatched nuclear capable B-52H nuclear capable heavy bombers for flights over the Persian Gulf region several times since then, and deployed a range of naval assets including an Ohio Class nuclear powered cruise missile submarine to the area. The ship conspicuously sailed near to Strait of Hormuz in December, and could deploy up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. In late December Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif signalled stressed that the country would defend its "security and vital interests," and cited B-52 flights in the context of growing concerns with U.S. activities. Tensions notably surrounded the one year anniversary of the CIA assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the country’s most decorated military officer, who was on a diplomatic visit to Iraq and was killed on January 3rd 2020. 

In response to rising tensions, hundreds of Iranian scientists have urged armed forces to destroy any American warships or warplanes - especially B-52 bombers - if they violate Iranian waters or airspace. A letter to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh was signed by 840 university professors, and cited the corps’ attack on a U.S. military base in Ayn Al Asad, Iraq, in January 2020 which had caused over 100 American casualties in response to Soleimani’s death. Reporting on the letter, Iran’s FARS news agency stated that it "pointed to the United States' empty awe and power which has been magnified by the Western, Zionist, and Arab media outlets, and asked General Hajizadeh to shatter this unreal and fabricated image.” With B-52H bombers having low survivability at close ranges due to their lack of stealth capabilities, the bombers are highly unlikely to enter Iranian airspace even in the event of war. They will instead rely on standoff cruise with ranges of over 1000km to strike Iranian targets from well beyond retaliation range. The Iranian Air Force notably deploys one of the longest ranged air to air missiles in the world, the Fakour 90, which has an estimated range of 220-300km. Even with such missiles, which can only be deployed by F-14 heavyweight fighters due to their considerable size, the chances of striking B-52s remains low as the bombers are unlikely to come within 1000km of Iranian airspace in a wartime situation.