A US Air Force plane has landed at an American airbase in Britain, as tensions continue to escalate with the Iranian regime.
Dubbed the “nuke sniffer”, the USAF WC-135R Constant Phoenix jet is used to detect radioactive particles in the atmosphere and was reportedly deployed to the Middle East days before Donald Trump bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities last year.
While the reason for its latest trip to RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk is unclear, defence sources told The Telegraph that its presence did not indicate that military action was imminent.
Speculation is continuing to grow that Washington is considering a strike on Iran, with the US president warning that a “massive armada” had been dispatched to the Middle East, as part of a build-up of American forces in the region.
In his latest comments at the premiere of his wife Melania’s documentary, Mr Trump said the Iranian regime had to do “two things” to avoid military action, after weeks of demonstrations against the clerical leadership had seen a brutal crackdown on protesters.
“Number one, no nuclear. And number two, stop killing protesters,” the US president said, adding that “they are killing them by the thousands”.
“We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn’t have to use them.”
On Wednesday, he also warned the regime in Tehran that it must “come to the table” to make a “fair and equitable deal”, including abandoning its nuclear weapons programme, or “the next attack will be far worse”.
The fleet, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, is bigger than that assembled for the operation in Venezuela, which led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro, Mr Trump also said on his Truth Social platform.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said armed forces were ready “with their fingers on the trigger” to “immediately and powerfully respond” to any aggression.
On Thursday, the European Union added the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its list of designated organisations in response to Tehran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters in recent weeks.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the brutality of the Iranian regime was an “affront to humanity” as she renewed calls for a UK ban following the move.
Speaking during his visit to Beijing, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer was asked about the situation in Iran.
Sir Keir said: “Well, the big issue, the big challenge here, is to ensure that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear programme and we all absolutely agree on that, and we’re working with allies to that end, and that is the central focus I’m doing with our allies.”
Asked if Mr Trump’s actions were right, Sir Keir said: “We all agree that ensuring that Iran doesn’t get that nuclear programme is the number one priority, and that’s what we’re working on.”
Thousands of people have been killed in recent weeks as the Iranian authorities have responded to protests in cities across the country with a brutal crackdown.
The number of those who have died and been injured is not easy to estimate because of an ongoing internet blackout in Iran.
US-based organisation Human Rights Activists in Iran, also known by the initials of its news agency HRANA, believes the number of confirmed deaths is 6,126, of which 5,777 were protesters.
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