Published on Nov 4, 2012 by WYNKnews
Britain is considering stationing warplanes in the Persian Gulf as the confrontation with Iran over its nuclear programme continues amid rising tension in the region, The Independent has learnt.
The possible deployment of the Eurofighter Typhoons follows talks with the United Arab Emirates to bolster the UK’s presence in the region at a time when Israel is threatening military strikes against Tehran and much of the Middle-East is in turbulence in the aftershock of the Arab Spring and Syria’s civil war.
The decision on whether to send the planes at such a volatile time will be made by David Cameron, after further talks with the rulers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and an announcement is expected to be made in the near future.
The arrival of British aircraft is bound to fuel the Iranian sense of insecurity even if there are assurances that the move is not aimed at them. The Defence Secretary Philip Hammond yesterday said European nations must be prepared to “take a bigger role in relation to North Africa and the Middle East”.
Israel, whose Defence Minister Ehud Barak is in London at the moment with the Iran crisis the main topic of discussion, is said to be “fully aware” and supportive of the discussions over the warplanes.
The British Government has urged Israel to exercise restraint over Iran, pointing out that sanctions are having a crippling effect on the Iranian economy — with the fall-out from the punitive measures making the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad increasingly unpopular and creating frictions in the ruling hierachy.
However, at the same time, UK military commanders are looking at the possibility of sending British jets to a base in Abu Dhabi which is currently being used by American and French forces as a confidence building measure but also, crucially, in case there are attempts by the Iranians to block the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which 40 per cent of the world’s oil supplies are shipped.
The Ministry of Defence said in a statement: “The UK regularly deploys Typhoon to UAE as part of our routine exercise programme and to demonstrate our military commitment to UAE and the security of the wider region. We have a mutual interest with our GCC [Gulf] partners in ensuring peace and stability in the region, and exercises such as this allow us to practice working together.” The MoD added: “These deployments are not due to our concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme. As we continue to make clear, the Government does not believe military action against Iran is the right course of action at this time, although no option is off the table.”
However, The Independent has learnt from highly senior military and diplomatic sources that the Al Dhafra airbase, 20 miles south of Abu Dhabi, is being looked at as a possible station for the Typhoons. The base is in use by French Mirage fighter-bombers as well as the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing of the US Air Force with jets and Patriot missile batteries and well located for operations in the Gulf.
Tehran has been bitterly critical about the American and French presence in the Gulf saying that it was an attempt to intimidate and that it posed a threat to their national interests.
Mr Barak said in London this week that Iran appears to have pulled back from proceeding full-steam to acquire nuclear weapons. But he reiterated Israel’s determination to carry out a military strike without warning if it felt this was necessary and met senior British military commanders as well as ministers.
One senior British officer said: “We do not think there is any need for military action at the moment. But we are considering all eventualities and where the UK should position itself. The decision on deployment will be made on mutual interest and growing interdependence between the UK and the UAE in the long-term.”
It has not yet been decided which country would pay for the Typhoons’ presence. However, the UAE government picks up the operational costs for the French, which has been variously estimated to be between €20 million and €45 million per year.
The UK has carried out two air exercises with the UAE, one codenamed Al Khanjar in 2010, involving Eurofighter Typhoons, and another one this year, with Tornado GR4s. The Tornados are, however, being phased out by 2019 and BAE has stated that the UAE has “real and genuine” interest in buying 60 of its Typhoons in preference to the French Dassault Rafale.
A massive contract for the Indian Air Force has gone to the the Rafale instead of the Typhoon, but British military commanders insist the Typhoon deployment to Abu Dhabi is guided by strategic rather than commercial considerations.
Obama asked Cameron last week for use of British bases as stopovers for US Forces on the way to Iran in the event of war.
Cameron refused.
Netanyahu gets on the blower to Cameron, and turns him around by getting him to say that he will make a decision about a decision to send British military aircraft to the UAE.
The Independent is covering for Cameron, nothing else is going on, and no need to worry about Israel doing a surprise strike on Iran, as before the otherwise distracted US can respond, much of Israel will have been destroyed by Iranian missiles.
The plan is for a joint USrael strike to close that window for Iran.
Better still is a Romney win, who will lead America to her death by following Netanyahu’s orders to bomb Iran, with Israel being a US base of operations, one of several in the region, against Iran.
IOW, Israel will devote all her attention to only needing to deal with the occasional stray Iranian missile.
That’s what dumb goys are for, to die in Israel’s wars of choice.
well put
That’s the Zionist agenda for you.
Really looking forward to Israel getting annihilated, and by their own hand too! Brilliant.
That will just give them another Holocaust card to play for the next 50 years since the last one has faded even with the constant bombardment of hollywood BS movies and NG hitler/nazi stories. What a load of BS. “It’s a trick, we always use it. When someone in Europe is critical of Israel we bing up the Holocaust. In America we say that they are anti-semetic.”
Read- Freedman on “The Truth about the Khazar’s.”
50 years?
Overly optimistic, I’d say.
The jewish chronicle a british newspaper claimed cameron’s campaign contributors were mostly JEWISH. The fact is cameron is showing his ugly face his currently in the gulf working out defence deals with the monarchs and he hopes to strike a deal with dubai to hold a strategic air base their with iran yesterday claiming they have fortified the kish island half way between iran and the UAE things are getting very serious iran made a strategic move and the question is will cameron order his Air fleets to go close to iranian territory in a provocation i would bet Cameron would have to pay back to his creditors sooner rather than laters.