High-stakes decision looms for Trump in showdown with Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump faces one of the greatest tests of his presidency after Iran launched ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. It was Iran’s most brazen direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

The strikes pushed Tehran and Washington perilously close to war, and put the world’s attention on Trump as he weighs whether to respond with more military force. The president huddled with his national security advisers on Tuesday night, but offered no immediate indication of whether he would retaliate. He said in a tweet that “All is well!” and announced plans to address the nation on Wednesday morning.

The Iranian strikes came days after Trump authorized the targeted killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Iran had pledged to retaliate, though its actions did not appear to result in any American casualties, according to a U.S. official. The missiles targeted two bases — one in the northern Iraqi city in Irbil and the other at Ain al-Asad in western Iraq.

A lack of U.S. casualties could give Trump an opening to de-escalate the mounting tensions with Iran and pull the nation back from the brink of war. Trump, who is facing reelection at the end of the year, campaigned for president on a promise to keep the United States from engaging in “endless war.”

Still, Trump’s rhetoric in recent days has been menacing. Just hours before Tuesday’s missile strikes, the president told reporters in the Oval Office: “If Iran does anything that they shouldn’t be doing, they’re going to be suffering the consequences, and very strongly.”

Democrats called on Trump avoid a military escalation with Iran.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the administration needs to quickly “extricate us from what could lead into a full-fledged war with terrible casualties.” Engel said he feared the situation ”spirals out of control.”

The fallout for Trump’s order to kill Soleimani has been swift.

Iran announced that it would no longer be bound by the 2015 nuclear agreement and vowed to retaliate against the U.S., its allies and American interests. Iraq’s parliament also voted to expel U.S. troops from Iraq, which would undermine efforts to fight Islamic State militants in the region and strengthen Iran’s influence in the Mideast.

The counterattack by Iran came as Trump and his top advisers were under pressure to disclose more details about the intelligence that led to the American strike that killed Soleimani.

Trump said Tuesday that his decision saved American lives and that members of Congress would get a briefing on the reasons for the U.S. attack.

“They were planning something,” he said of the Iranians.

So far, Trump and top national security officials have justified the airstrike with general statements about the threat posted by Soleimani, who commanded proxy forces outside Iran and was responsible for the deaths of American troops in Iraq.

But the details have been scarce.

“He’s no longer a monster. He’s dead,” Trump said. “And that’s a good thing for a lot of countries. He was planning a very big attack and a very bad attack for us and other people and we stopped him and I don’t think anybody can complain about it.”

Soleimani was targeted while he was at an airport in Baghdad with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a veteran Iraqi militant who also was killed.

Trump said they weren’t in Baghdad to discuss vacation plans or visit a “nice resort,” but were there to talk over “bad business.”

The lack of detail didn’t sit well with Democrats, who recall how President George W. Bush justified his invasion of Iraq by accusing Saddam Hussein of having what turned out to be non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Lawmakers in recent days have been pressing for more details about why Trump ordered the killing — a decision that previous administrations passed up because of fears it would unleash even more violence.

Soleimani traveled often and relatively openly, with visits to Baghdad more frequent in recent months. He also often showed up in Syria, including along the border between Iraq and Syria.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have called on Trump to declassify the written notification he sent to Congress after the strike. The notification was required under the War Powers Resolution Act of 1973, which requires the president to report to Congress when American forces are sent into hostile situations.

“The president must come to Congress and present clear and compelling intelligence as to why the strike against Soleimani was absolutely necessary,” Menendez said in a speech on the Senate floor. “In the wake of all its misleading statements we must make clear to the administration that the president by himself does not have the authority to launch a war against Iran.”

Trump stressed that the strike was in retaliation for Iranian attacks and that the U.S. is prepared to attack again — “very strongly.” He also said that while he eventually wants to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq, now is not the time because it would allow Iran to gain a bigger foothold there.

Trump’s top national security officials made several public appearances on Tuesday to further defend the strike.

“We had deep intelligence indicating there was active plotting to put American lives at risk,” and Iraqi lives too, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Asked if the threat was imminent in days or weeks, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said: “I think it’s more fair to say days, for sure.”

Esper said the intelligence was precise — “razor thin.” He said top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate plus the chairmen and vice chairmen of the intelligence committees in both chambers were getting a classified briefing Tuesday afternoon on what led to the decision to kill Soleimani. He said other lawmakers will be provided general details about the attack.

He said Soleimani was in Baghdad to coordinate additional attacks against the U.S. “To somehow suggest that he wasn’t a legitimate target, I think, is fanciful,” Esper said.

Democratic lawmakers were not yet convinced it was the right decision.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called the U.S. strike on Soleimani a mistake and said, “I have yet to see how killing this man will prevent Iran from posing an even greater threat against the United States and our interests.”

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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

Iran strikes back at US with missile attack at bases in Iraq

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran struck back at the United States early Wednesday for killing a top Revolutionary Guard commander, firing a series of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq that house American troops in a major escalation between the two longtime foes.

It was Iran’s most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, and Iranian state TV said it was in revenge for the U.S. killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, whose death last week in an American drone strike near Baghdad prompted angry calls to avenge his slaying. A U.S. and Iraqi officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties, though buildings were still being searched. The Iraqi government later confirmed there were no casualties among Iraqi forces.

A presenter on Iranian state television later claimed, without offering evidence, that the strikes killed “at least 80 terrorist U.S soldiers” and also damaged helicopters, drones and other equipment at the Ain al-Asad air base.

The strikes, which came as Iran buried Soleimani, raised fears that the two longtime foes were closer to war. But there were some indications that there would not be further retaliation on either side, at least in the short term.

‘All is well!’ President Donald Trump tweeted shortly after the missile attacks, adding, ‘So far, so good’ regarding casualties. Moments earlier, Iran’s foreign minister tweeted that Tehran had taken “& concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,” adding that Tehran did “not seek escalation” but would defend itself against further aggression.

In Tehran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the missile strike on the U.S. bases in Iraq a “slap in the face” of the Americans, adding that military retaliation is not sufficient. “The corrupt presence of the U.S. in the region should come to end,” he said.

The killing of Soleimani — a national hero to many in Iran — and strikes by Tehran came as tensions have been rising steadily across the Mideast after Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. They also marked the first time in recent years that Washington and Tehran have attacked each other directly rather than through proxies in the region. It raised the chances of open conflict erupting between the two enemies, who have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis.

Adding to the chaos and overall jitters, a Ukrainian airplane with at least 170 people crashed after takeoff just outside Tehran on Wednesday morning, killing all on board, state TV reported. The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport and mechanical issues were suspected, the report said.

Iran initially announced only one missile strike, but U.S. officials confirmed both. U.S. defense officials were at the White House, likely to discuss options with Trump, who launched the attack on Soleimani while facing an upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned the U.S. and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack on the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq’s western Anbar province. The Guard issued the warning via a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

“We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” the Guard said. It also threatened Israel.

After the strikes, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator posted a picture of the Islamic Republic’s flag on Twitter, appearing to mimic Trump who posted an American flag following the killing of Soleimani and others Friday.

Ain al-Asad air base was first used by American forces after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, and later saw American troops stationed there amid the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. It houses about 1,500 U.S. and coalition forces. The U.S. also acknowledged another missile attack targeting a base in Irbil in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

The Iranians fired a total of 15 missiles, two U.S. officials said. Ten hit Ain al-Asad and one the base in Irbil. Four failed, said the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly about a military operation.

Two Iraqi security officials said at least one of the missiles appeared to have struck a plane at the Ain al-Asad base, igniting a fire. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the attacks, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they had no permission to talk to journalists.

About 70 Norwegian troops also were on the air base but no injuries were reported, Brynjar Stordal, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Armed Forces told The Associated Press.

Trump visited the sprawling Ain al-Asad air base, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad, in December 2018, making his first presidential visit to troops in the region. Vice President Mike Pence also has visited the base.

“As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend U.S. personnel, partners and allies in the region,” said Jonathan Hoffman, an assistant to the U.S. defense secretary.

Wednesday’s missile strikes happened a few hours after crowds in Iran mourned Soleimani at his funeral. It also came the U.S. continued to reinforce its own positions in the region and warned of an unspecified threat to shipping from Iran in the Mideast waterways, crucial routes for global energy supplies. U.S. embassies and consulates from Asia to Africa and Europe issued security alerts for Americans. The FAA also warned of a “potential for miscalculation or mis-identification” for civilian aircraft in the Persian Gulf amid in an emergency flight restriction.

A stampede broke out Tuesday at Soleimani’s funeral, and at least 56 people were killed and more than 200 were injured as thousands thronged the procession, Iranian news reports said. Shortly after Wednesday’s missile attack, Soleimani’s shroud-wrapped remains were lowered into the ground as mourners wailed at the grave site.

Tuesday’s deadly stampede took place in Soleimani’s hometown of Kerman as his coffin was being borne through the city in southeastern Iran, said Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran’s emergency medical services.

There was no information about what set off the crush in the packed streets, and online videos showed only its aftermath: people lying apparently lifeless, their faces covered by clothing, emergency crews performing CPR on the fallen, and onlookers wailing and crying out to God.

Hossein Salami, Soleimani’s successor as leader of the Revolutionary Guard, earlier addressed a crowd of supporters in Kernan and vowed to avenge Soleimani.

“We tell our enemies that we will retaliate but if they take another action we will set ablaze the places that they like and are passionate about,” Salami said.

Soleimani was laid to rest between the graves of Enayatollah Talebizadeh and Mohammad Hossein Yousef Elahi, two former Guard comrades killed in Iran’s 1980s war with Iraq. They died in Operation Dawn 8, in which Soleimani also took part. It was a 1986 amphibious assault that cut Iraq off from the Persian Gulf and led to the end of the war that killed 1 million.

The funeral processions in major cities over three days have been an unprecedented honor for Soleimani, seen by Iranians as a national hero for his work leading the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force.

The U.S. blames him for killing U.S. troops in Iraq and accused him of plotting new attacks just before he was killed. Soleimani also led forces supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in that country’s civil war. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Assad in Syria on Tuesday amid the tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Soleimani’s slaying has also led Tehran to abandon the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers while in Iraq, pro-Iranian factions in parliament have pushed to oust American troops from Iraqi soil.

The FAA warning issued barred U.S. pilots and carriers from flying over areas of Iraqi, Iranian and some Persian Gulf airspace. The region is a major East-West travel hub and home to Emirates airline and Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel. It earlier issued warnings after Iran shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone last year that saw airlines plan new routes to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. Maritime Administration warned ships across the Mideast, citing the rising threats. Oil tankers were targeted in mine attacks last year that the U.S. blamed on Iran. Tehran denied responsibility, although it did seize oil tankers around the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s crude oil travels.

The U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said it would work with shippers in the region to minimize any possible threat.

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Lolita C. Baldor and Zeke Miller in Washington, Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed.

Liz Cheney calls Nancy Pelosi an 'embarrassment' after speaker spotted at party following missile fire on US troops in Iraq

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi an “embarrassment” Tuesday evening after Pelosi reportedly attended a Washington restaurant opening following Iran's missile fire against U.S. troops in Iraq.
“Speaker Pelosi is an embarrassment and unfit for office,” Cheney wrote as she retweetd a photo posted online purportedly showing the speaker at the restaurant in Washington's Navy Yard neighborhood.
“Closely monitoring the situation following bombings targeting U.S. troops in Iraq,” Pelosi had tweeted earlier, before she was photographed at Danny Meyer’s Maialino Mare restaurant. “We must ensure the safety of our servicemembers, including ending needless provocations from the Administration and demanding that Iran cease its violence. America & world cannot afford war.”
Washingtonian food editor Anna Spiegel, who took the photo of Pelosi at the restaurant opening, later tweeted that the speaker was at the event for only about 10 minutes.
Iran took credit for the missile launches, claiming they were in retaliation for the President Trump-ordered airstrike at Baghdad International Airport early Friday morning that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
A few hours after the Iranian attack in Iraq, Trump tweeted “All is well!," and said he planned to make a further statement Wednesday morning.
“Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq,” he tweeted. “Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.”

Joe Biden saw Iran's Clinton-era attack as 'act of war' requiring payback -- now warns Trump about 'escalatory move'

Former Vice President Joe Biden took some heat on social media this week after an old TV clip surfaced in which Biden called a deadly Iranian attack against U.S. airmen an “act of war.”
The U.S. can “take whatever action it deems appropriate,” the then-U.S. senator told ABC's Sam Donaldson on "This Week" regarding Iran’s tanker truck bombing of the Khobar Towers, a U.S. Air Force military housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, that killed 19 airmen and injured more than 500 others.
Critics were quick to point out the difference between Biden's rhetoric back then -- when Democrat Bill Clinton was president -- and his rebuke this week of the U.S. airstrike ordered by President Trump that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani last Friday, which Biden called a “hugely escalatory move.”
"Didn't Joe just criticize President Trump for doing exactly what he states in this interview should be done?" one Twitter user wrote. "How can people stand this level of lies and hypocrisy? Either side? What have we become? Lie when it benefits you."
"Hypocrisy just comes naturally to all Democrats," another Twitter user wrote.
In his statement this week, Biden said: "President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox, and he owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and plan to keep safe our troops and embassy personnel, our people and our interests, both here at home and abroad, and our partners throughout the region and beyond."
Biden has not made a statement on his previous remarks.

Iran's Oil Supply Cartoons

Shares rebound, oil prices retreat despite US-Iran woes

Just shows the world doesn't really give a damn about creepy old Iran.

BANGKOK (AP) — Global stocks rebounded Tuesday following modest gains on Wall Street, despite caution over rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

U.S. officials were bracing for Iran’s response to the killing by a U.S. drone of its most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani. Noting heightened levels of military readiness in the country, Washington was preparing for a possible “tit-for-tat” attack on an American military leader.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX advanced 1% to 13,252.48 while the CAC 40 in France climbed 0.6% to 6,052.34. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher to 7,585.16. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.2% higher,

“The positive sentiment is likely to continue for the remainder of the day as the underlying drivers of the stock market rally, the search for yield and global economic recovery, reassert themselves,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a commentary. “Only geopolitical headlines surprises from the Middle East are now likely to derail the rally.”

In Asia, most benchmarks rose, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index adding 1.6% to 23,575.72. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng picked up 0.3% to 28,322.06, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.7% to 3,104.80. In South Korea, the Kospi rose 1% to 2,175.54. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 climbed 1.4% to 6,826.40. Shares fell 0.6% in Taiwan but rose in most of Southeast Asia.

Gold was steady Tuesday after touching its highest price since April 2013 on Monday as investors sought safety amid fears the antagonisms could lead to war. It was down 40 cents at $1,568.40 per ounce.

Gold has historically performed well in times of military conflict and has climbed more than $40 since before Soleimani’s killing.

Oil prices gave up some of their recent big gains on Tuesday, with benchmark U.S. crude dropping 35 cents, or 0.6%, to $62.92 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 22 cents to $63.27 per barrel on Monday.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, lost 45 cents, or 0.7%, to $68.46 per barrel. On Monday it added 31 cents to $68.91 per barrel.

In currency trading, the dollar rose to 108.46 Japanese yen from 108.33 yen on Monday. The euro slipped to $1.1185 from $1.1194.

Apart from waiting for next steps in the clash between the United States and Iran, several big economic reports are on the schedule this upcoming week that could move markets. The headliner is Friday’s jobs report from the government.

Solid jobs growth has helped support the U.S. economy, even as trade wars hurt manufacturing around the world. Economists expect Friday’s report to show that employers added 155,000 jobs last month. The healthy job market is one of the reasons the S&P 500 soared to its second-best showing in 22 years in 2019. Big moves by central banks around the world to shield the economy from the pain of trade wars also were big factors.

Iran TV: 35 killed in stampede at funeral for slain general

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A stampede erupted Tuesday at a funeral procession for a top Iranian general killed in a U.S. airstrike last week, killing 35 people and injuring 48 others, state television reported.

According to the report, the stampede took place in Kerman, the hometown of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, as the procession got underway. Initial videos posted online showed people lying lifeless on a road, others shouting and trying to give help them.

Iranian state TV gave the casualty toll in its online report, without saying where it obtained the information. Pirhossein Koulivand, the head of Iran’s emergency medical services, earlier spoke by telephone to state TV and confirmed the stampede took place.

“Unfortunately as a result of the stampede, some of our compatriots have been injured and some have been killed during the funeral processions,” he said.

A procession in Tehran on Monday drew over 1 million people in the Iranian capital, crowding both main thoroughfares and side streets in Tehran.

THIS IS A MAJOR NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below.

The leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened on Tuesday to “set ablaze” places supported by the United States over the killing of a top Iranian general in a U.S. airstrike last week, sparking cries from the crowd of supporters of “Death to Israel!”

Hossein Salami made the pledge before a crowd of thousands gathered in a central square in Kerman, the hometown of the slain Gen. Qassem Soleimani. His vow mirrored the demands of top Iranian officials — from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to others — as well as supporters across the Islamic Republic, demanding retaliation against America for a slaying that’s drastically raised tensions across the Middle East.

Mourners in Kerman dressed in black carried posters bearing the image of Soleimani, a man whose slaying prompted Iran’s supreme leader to weep over his casket on Monday as a crowd said by police to be in the millions filled Tehran streets. Although there was no independent estimate, aerial footage and Associated Press journalists suggested a turnout of at least 1 million, and the throngs were visible on satellite images of Tehran taken Monday.

The outpouring of grief was an unprecedented honor for a man viewed by Iranians as a national hero for his work leading the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force. The U.S. blames him for the killing of American troops in Iraq and accused him of plotting new attacks just before his death Friday in a drone strike near Baghdad’s airport. Soleimani also led forces in Syria backing President Bashar Assad in a long war, and he also served as the point man for Iranian proxies in countries like Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.

His slaying already has pushed Tehran to abandon the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers as his successor and others vow to take revenge. In Baghdad, the parliament has called for the expulsion of all American troops from Iraqi soil, something analysts fear could allow Islamic State militants to mount a comeback.

Soleimani’s remains and those of the others killed in the airstrike were brought to a central square in Kerman, a desert city surrounded by mountains that dates back to the days of the Silk Road.

Speaking in Kerman, Salami praised Soleimani’s exploits, describing him as essential to backing Palestinian groups, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria. As a martyr, Soleimani represented an even greater threat to Iran’s enemies, Salami said.

“We will take revenge. We will set ablaze where they like,” Salami said, drawing the cries of “Death to Israel!”

Israel is a longtime regional foe of Iran.

According to a report on Tuesday by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Iran has worked up 13 sets of plans for revenge for Soleimani’s killing. The report quoted Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, as saying that even the weakest among them would be a “historic nightmare” for the U.S. He declined to give any details,

“If the U.S. troops do not leave our region voluntarily and upright, we will do something to carry their bodies horizontally out,” Shamkhani said.

Iran’s parliament, meanwhile, passed an urgent bill declaring the U.S. military’s command at the Pentagon and those acting on its behalf in Soleimani’s killing as “terrorists,” subject to Iranian sanctions. The measure appears to be an attempt to mirror a decision by President Donald Trump in April to declare the Revolutionary Guard a “terrorist organization.”

The U.S. Defense Department used the Guard’s designation as a terror organization in the U.S. to support the strike that killed Soleimani. The decision by Iran’s parliament, done by a special procedure to speed the bill to law, comes as officials across the country threaten to retaliate for Soleimani’s killing.

The vote also saw lawmakers approve funding for the Quds Force with an additional 200 million euros, or about $224 million.

Also Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the U.S. had declined to issue him a visa to travel to New York for upcoming meetings at the United Nations. The U.S. as the host of the U.N. headquarters is supposed to allow foreign officials to attend such meetings.

“This is because they fear someone will go there and tell the truth to the American people,” Zarif said. “But they are mistaken. The world is not limited to New York. You can speak with American people from Tehran too and we will do that.”

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Solemani will be buried later Tuesday between the graves of Enayatollah Talebizadeh and Mohammad Hossein Yousef Elahi, two former Guard comrades. The two died in Operation Dawn 8 in Iran’s 1980s war with Iraq in which Soleimani also took part, a 1986 amphibious assault that cut Iraq off from the Persian Gulf and led to the end of the bloody war that killed 1 million people.

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Elephant Walk at Utah Air Force Base showcases 52 F-35s launching in a row

An Air Force base in Utah staged a massive ‘elephant walk’ that featured 52 of one of the country’s most advanced fighter jets launching in a row.
The F-35A II Lightning fighters were part of the Active Duty 388th and Reserve 419th fighter wings at the Hill Air Force Base in the northern part of the state, according to AirForceMag.com. The base is home to 78 of the  Fifth Generation fighters.
"Today's exercise marks the accomplishment of over four years of work — a little over four years ago, we received our first F-35," Col. Michael Ebner, 388th Wing vice commander, told the Deseret News. "We now have our full complement of aircraft and locally, we turn this into a goal of full war-fighting capability."
An “elephant walk” refers to the close formation of military aircraft before takeoff.
The base reportedly said the exercise has been planned for months but comes at a time of extreme tension between Iran and the U.S. President  Trump last week ordered the killing of a top general in Tehran. The 388th Fighter Wing tweeted a photo of the rows of jets on the runway and wrote, “We are now at full warfighting capability.”
The 388th is an operational unit that has already sent one F-35A squadron overseas on a deployment to the Middle East. That unit has since returned and a second F-35A squadron from Hill is now deployed in that region.
“The message is not just to potential adversaries, but it’s also to our nation’s leadership that they can count on the 388th Fighter Wing to support the combat power that they plan and require us to provide,” Ebner told the paper.
The Associated Press contributed to this report