Powerful US forces in the Azores. Preparations for an attack on Iran?

The largest American transport plane, the Lockheed G-5 Galaxy, landed at the Lajes military base located in the Azores, the Portuguese Now television reported on Saturday, suggesting that it may take part in the planned US strike operation against Iran.

– We now have the largest presence of American troops in recent years at the Lajes base on the island of Terceira – TV Now reported on Saturday, without specifying the number of US troops and planes.

According to Portuguese reporters, up to 30 US Air Force planes may have arrived at the Lajes base in recent days. These include at least fifteen Boeing KPC-46 transport and refueling aircraft, a Boeing C-17 aircraft for transporting large military cargo, as well as from several to a dozen or so F-16 fighters. Their number, according to local media reports, is difficult to estimate because these fighters “regularly depart and arrive at the Lajes base.”

So far, the Portuguese Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have refused to comment on the increased presence of American troops on the Azorean island of Terceira. It is estimated that more than 400 US troops are stationed there as of Tuesday.

When asked by the media about the increased presence of US troops in Lajes, the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, stated that “it is not worth speculating on this topic.” He added that a few weeks ago he received information from the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the planned increase in the number of American soldiers in the Azores.

Portuguese commentators claim that the current situation is reminiscent of a similar operation by the United States in June 2025, when, among others, from the Lajes base, the US attacked Iran's nuclear facilities.

US troops have been stationed on Portuguese territory continuously since 1944, when, thanks to the British using Lajes, they appeared on the Azorean island of Terceira in the last months of World War II.

The strategic location of the Azores in the Atlantic and the American troops stationed there turned out to be one of the main arguments in 1949 for inviting Portugal to co-create NATO.

The presence of US troops in the Azores is regulated by the US-Portuguese agreement of 1995, which stipulates that the US air force may use the Lajes military base for NATO-related purposes.

According to estimates from 2025, 165 American soldiers supported by 400 Portuguese employees of the Lajes base have been stationed on Terceira so far.

From Lisbon Marcin Zatyka (PAP)

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