Mingkun published photos of the sighted aircraft on its website, including KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft, as well as C-17 Globemaster III and C-5M Galaxy transport aircraft, which are typically used to move personnel, equipment and special units.
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What American forces were transferred to the base in the Persian Gulf?
What aircraft were present during recent exercises in the UK?
What might be the US response to the protests in Iran?
What is the expert analysis about in the context of American actions over Iran?
Some of these planes landed in Great Britain in early January, where the Americans conducted exercises at RAF Fairford and RAF Mildenhall, key British bases of the US Air Force, which, according to the British daily “The Times”, suggests that Americans may be preparing for another military mission.
He confirms these suggestions the deployment of significant naval forces by the United States in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the repeated sending in recent days of an MQ-4C Triton reconnaissance drone belonging to the US Navy, stationed at a base in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, near the borders with Iran.
Possible US reaction
According to “The Times” the last time such strengthening of the armed forces and their activity was observed was in June 2025.when the US military bombed multiple nuclear facilities in Iran.
It also intensifies these speculations statement by US President Donald Trump, that the United States will use force and intervene if the Iranian regime uses violence to suppress ongoing protests in Iran.
Experts: What is possible is not an attack, but a blockade
However, Mingkun analysts consider the United States to be a more likely target for the accumulation of such forces an attempt to impose an air and sea blockade on Iran, which would trigger a serious internal crisis than launching a large-scale direct attack.
Iran reacted to these reports increasing the readiness of its air defense systems, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) conducted missile exercises in several cities, including Tehran, last Sunday.
