Bunker-busting bombs loaded onto US planes at UK airbase amid Iran war
Al Jazeera
The use of RAF Fairford by US forces highlights the UK’s increasingly active role in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Three United States B-1B Lancer bombers have touched down at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom after what is believed to be the first American strike mission against Iran launched from a British base, during the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Al Jazeera’s team witnessed the aircraft returning to the base as ground crews moved new stocks of bunker-busting bombs, fitted with JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) guidance kits, across the runway.
Since the US and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28, the UK military has joined operations to intercept retaliatory Iranian drones and missile strikes across the Middle East, and has deployed additional assets to the eastern Mediterranean.
During the outbreak of the war, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had refused the US permission to use UK bases for attacks on Iran.
But on March 1, Starmer changed tack, stating that Westminster had approved a US request to use British bases for the “defensive purpose” of destroying Iranian missiles “at source” after a drone struck a British military base on Cyprus.
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