June 30 (UPI) — The U.S. pilots of the B-2 bombers, that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities this month, will be honored by President Donald Trump at the White House on the Fourth of July.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced their attendance Monday. Friday’s celebration will also feature a flyover by B-2 Spirit bombers, the same jets that struck Iran’s uranium enrichment sites at Fordo and Natanz in Operation Midnight Hammer.
“President Trump looks forward to celebrating our nation’s founding on Friday in the nation’s capital. To join in the celebration, the might of America’s Air Force will conduct a flyover featuring our state-of-the-art F-22s, B-2s and F-35s — the same air capabilities used for the decisive and successful strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities,” Leavitt said in a statement.
President Trump is scheduled to speak at the event. Additional personnel from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where the bombers are based, are also expected to attend.
On Sunday, Trump told Fox News that plans were in the works to honor the pilots.
“Yes, they’re going to come to the White House,” Trump said. “These people flew 36 hours in a small space, a big plane, but a small space mostly occupied by bombs, and they flew so brilliantly.”
According to the Trump administration, the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles “completely and fully obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
The Pentagon said seven B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker-buster bombs, while other B-2’s flew over the Pacific as decoys. The bombers refueled multiple times while in flight.
U.S. officials have pushed back on a leaked preliminary report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency that said the strikes had only set back Iran’s nuclear development by a few months.
Iran has acknowledged that the nuclear sites sustained “serious and significant damage” from the strikes.
