In the early 1950s, a US/NATO war with the Soviet Union would likely
include strategic air attacks against Soviet oil wells, refineries and other
industrial plants, storage facilities, and transport nets. If so, USSR
facilities in the southwest USSR (the Caspian Sea area) would have been
among high priority targets.
That being so, planning for US/NATO aircraft to return from bombing
missions over the southwest USSR included routes over-flying Turkey,
Iran, Iraq, Crete, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel, Egypt, and other
countries throughout the Middle East, across the length of the Med, and
along its northern and southern coasts.