THE Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refused to confirm or deny if defence facilities in Scotland were used by US forces in the conflict with Iran.
The National lodged a freedom of information request with the MoD on March 6 this year, but only received a response on August 26.
Donald Trump started the conflict in the Middle East with strikes which began on February 28. The UK Government allowed the US air force to use UK bases such as Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands for defensive purposes.
We told in July how there was a surge in US military flights as the Iran war escalated from Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire. However, the MoD have refused to release any information on whether military bases in Scotland, such as RAF Lossiemouth which has a “detachment” of US troops and hosts war planes at the base, were involved in the conflict with Iran.
The Scottish Greens have said the MoD’s response is “unacceptable”.
We asked for dates on which ministers or officials in the MoD considered or agreed the possible operational use of defence facilities and airports in Scotland by the UK or allies, including the US, in relation to the conflict in Iran.
This included any recorded written information which details whether specific Scottish bases or airports were considered for use by US forces in connection with the conflict, whether this was approved, refused or ruled out, and if it was approved, any conditions or limitations imposed.
The overdue response read: “In response to your request, the Ministry of Defence has considered your request for information and can neither confirm nor deny that it holds any information in scope.”
The defence department cited section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act which refers to defence, section 27 on international relations, and section 35 on the formulation or development of government policy.
“Section 26(3) applies because confirming or denying whether information is held would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness and security of the UK Armed Forces,” the response said.
The MoD added that confirming or denying they held the information would “prejudice the United Kingdom’s relations with an international organisation or international court”.
“Confirmation of whether or not the information in scope of your request is held could reveal sensitive details about high-level decision-making processes,” the response added.
“Revealing whether such information is held could undermine the candour necessary for effective policy development and Ministerial advice, as officials might be less willing to engage openly if they feared their communications could be publicly confirmed or denied.
“Furthermore, confirmation could also disrupt ongoing policy deliberations and constrain the Government’s ability to respond flexibly to evolving international situations.”
It added that revealing if the UK gave permission for the US to use air bases would “prejudice defence relations by restricting future exchanges of information or by jeopardising military co-operation”.
Concluding, it added: “This response should not be taken as conclusive evidence as to whether the information exists or does not exist.”
In response to the freedom of information release, Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay said: “This is utterly unacceptable. We have a right to know what is being done in our name – and how Scottish airports have been used to support Trump’s illegal and immoral war in Iran.
“The MoD cannot hide behind evasive weasel words and a refusal to confirm or deny. When UK infrastructure is facilitating a foreign war, the public deserves answers.
“The bombing has killed hundreds of civilians, unleashed yet more instability across the region and brought misery to countless families. Yet Prestwick has effectively served as an airbase for Trump and his military.
“Scotland should never have been dragged into an immoral conflict that we oppose in the first place. We deserve the truth. The UK Government must come clean.”
It comes as the US and Iran have traded strikes for the first time in six weeks after American forces attacked two rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US strikes reportedly killed two people and injured two others according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which vowed “response and punishment”.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said it took “limited, precise action” after they say Iran was preparing to “launch rockets and deploy sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz”.
A spokesperson for Stop the War Scotland told The National: "From the outset of the US and Israel's criminal and predatory attack on Iran, the UK Government has offered up British territory and bases as a launchpad. Andy Burnham has not revised this policy.
"The UK Government is therefore complicit in all the crimes committed against the people of Iran, including, by the admission of the US government itself, the direct targeting of civilian infrastructure – a crime in international law.”
Stop the War said the UK Government has “sought to cover this complicity” by saying that the bases were used for defensive purposes.
“Of which there can be none in a war of aggression,” the spokesperson added.
"It is therefore an affront to basic standards of democracy and free inquiry that the Ministry of Defence is refusing to disclose information about the use of Scottish airports at the start of the attack on Iran. How are the people of this country supposed to judge the policies of their government, if those policies are hidden from view?
“Once again, we see that the new militarism is a severe threat to basic democratic rights.
"As the US launches fresh bombardments on Iran, we demand information about the use of Scottish and all British facilities be made public. This war must be stopped immediately and those British politicians who have facilitated it [are] held to account."
We told how in July multiple heavy-duty cargo and transport planes departed from Prestwick, the Scottish Government-owned airport, and flew to key hubs that have been used to support the US-led war on Iran. This includes the Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily.
