The United States has unleashed its oldest heavy bomber, the B‑52 Stratofortress, into the skies over Iran, marking a dramatic new phase in Operation Epic Fury — the joint US‑Israeli air campaign launched on February 28, 2026.

US Central Command says nearly 2,000 targets across Iran have been hit in under a week, with B‑52s now joining B‑1 and B‑2 bombers in deep‑strike missions against ballistic‑missile sites, air defenses and command‑and‑control nodes.A White House fact sheet confirms B‑52s are striking hardened missile infrastructure and leadership bunkers as Washington vows to “severely degrade” Iran’s ability to threaten American forces and allies.

First flown in the 1950s, the B‑52’s return to front‑line combat underscores the scale of US commitment: a long‑range platform able to launch precision cruise missiles from well outside Iran’s densest air‑defence zones, staying on station for hours while feeding targeting data back into the strike network.

But the bombing campaign is no longer confined to Iran’s borders. Tehran has fired missiles and drones at Gulf neighbours including Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, while threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz — turning a US‑Iran showdown into a wider Gulf war with global energy markets already spiking.

The Trump administration frames Epic Fury as a necessary blitz to shatter Iran’s missile arsenal and block any nuclear breakout. Critics warn the deployment of B‑52s is a point of no return, locking Washington into an open‑ended, region‑wide conflict whose costs — strategic and economic — are only beginning to surface.