US plane dubbed the ‘nuke sniffer’ lands in UK amid growing tensions with Iran
As tensions with the Iranian regime continue to rise, a US Air Force plane landed at an American air base in England.
The USAF WC-135R Constant Phoenix jet, called a “nuclear detector,” 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.
Defense sources said the reason for the latest visit to RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk was unclear. Telegram He said its presence did not indicate that military action was imminent.
Speculation continues to mount that Washington is considering attacking Iran; The US president warns that a “massive fleet” is being sent to the Middle East as part of the 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 must do “two things” to avoid military intervention following a brutal crackdown on protesters in weeks of demonstrations against the clergy.
“First, no nuclear. Second, stop killing the protesters,” the US president said, adding that they had “killed thousands of them.”
“We have very large, very powerful ships going 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” that includes giving up its nuclear weapons program or “the next attack will be much worse.”
Fleet led by aircraft carrier USS Abraham LincolnIn his statement on the Truth Social platform, Trump said that the attack was bigger than those gathered for the operation that resulted in the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the armed forces were ready with “fingers on the trigger” to “respond immediately and strongly” to any attack.
The European Union on Thursday added the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its list of designated organizations in response to Tehran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters in recent weeks.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel echoed Britain’s call for a ban following the move, saying the Iranian regime’s brutality was an “insult to humanity”.
Speaking during his visit to Beijing, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was asked about the situation in Iran.
Sir Keir said: “The biggest issue here, the biggest challenge is to ensure that Iran does not have a nuclear program and we are all absolutely agreed on that and we are working with allies to that end and that is the main focus that I am working on with our allies.”
Asked whether Mr Trump’s actions were correct, Sir Keir said: “We all agree that ensuring Iran does not have access to its nuclear program is the number one priority and that is what we are working on.”
Thousands of people have been killed in recent weeks as Iranian authorities responded to protests in cities across the country with a brutal crackdown.
It is not easy to estimate the number of deaths and injuries due to the ongoing internet outage in Iran.
The US-based organization Human Rights Activists in Iran, also known by the initials of the news agency HRANA, believes the confirmed death toll is 6,126, of which 5,777 were protesters.
