A United States KC-135 tanker plane suffered an accident this Thursday and crashed in western Iraq while supporting the offensive against Iran. The US Army Central Command reported in a statement that rescue efforts continue, but did not offer figures for the number of crew members on the aircraft. The Pentagon stressed that the accident occurred “in allied airspace” and that “it was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.” According to the note, two aircraft were involved in the event, in which one crashed and the other managed to land without problems. This same Thursday, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, the largest in the US fleet and which provides support to Iran’s war from the Red Sea, suffered a fire that injured two crew members.
The US and Israeli bombings against Iran continue for the second consecutive week, while the new Iranian supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, threatened to continue attacking US bases in the region and keep the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes, closed. The US president, Donald Trump, assured this Thursday that the war, baptized by the Pentagon as Operation Epic Fury, “is advancing rapidly”, although he did not give a date to end the conflict. The war, in which seven US soldiers have died and which has caused an increase in the price of gasoline due to the blockade in the Persian Gulf, could take its toll on Trump ahead of the November midterm elections, in which the Republican majority in Congress is at stake.
