Key keywords: B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, 36-hour non-stop combat mission, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), IRGC senior leadership meeting, US global strike capability, Middle East regional security, Quds Force commanders, US military retaliatory strike, cross-ocean air refueling, Syria-Iraq border military targets The United States Department of Defense officially confirmed on Thursday that two B-2 Spirit stealth bombers assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, successfully executed a 36-hour non-stop long-range strike mission targeting a high-level meeting of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated proxy militia leaders held near the Syria-Iraq border. The mission, which departed from the continental United States, required four consecutive aerial refueling operations from US Air Force KC-135 and KC-46 tanker aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Arabian Peninsula, allowing the B-2s to avoid detection by Iranian and pro-Iranian militia air defense systems throughout the entire flight path. Pentagon officials stated that the targeted meeting was attended by at least 7 senior IRGC Quds Force commanders and 12 leaders of Iran-backed Shiite militias operating in Syria and Iraq, who were coordinating plans for a series of large-scale attacks on US military bases and diplomatic facilities in the Middle East that were scheduled to launch within 72 hours of the strike. Preliminary post-strike assessments show that the precision-guided munitions deployed by the B-2s completely destroyed the temporary command facility hosting the meeting, eliminated all high-value targets confirmed to be present, and also hit three adjacent weapons storage facilities holding long-range rockets and explosive drones prepared for the planned attacks. No civilian casualties were reported in the strike, according to US Central Command. Pentagon press secretary Patrick Ryder emphasized in a press briefing that the strike was a legitimate defensive action in response to 23 separate attacks on US personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-backed groups over the past month, which left 3 US service members dead and more than 40 injured. "This mission sends an unambiguous message that the United States will respond swiftly and decisively to any threats against our personnel, no matter where those threats originate, and no matter how far our forces need to travel to neutralize them," Ryder said. Iranian foreign ministry officials have condemned the strike as a "flagrant violation of Syrian and Iraqi sovereignty" and vowed that Iran will take "appropriate retaliatory measures at a time and place of its choosing." Regional security analysts warn that the strike, while successfully disrupting imminent attacks against US interests, has raised the risk of direct military confrontation between the US and Iran, with neighboring Gulf states already boosting their air defense alert levels in preparation for potential retaliatory strikes.