UK police arrest activists near RAF base over Iran protest

Along with other activists, the five men and two women detained at a peace camp outside the Lakenheath airbase on Sunday protested the base’s use as a departure point for US planes engaged in the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran.

The seven were detained while donning apparel that read, “We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action,” according to the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace, which coordinated the demonstration.

The demonstrators were detained “on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organization,” according to the police.

Last year, Palestine Action was outlawed as a “terrorist” organization by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government, making membership in any support for the group illegal.

A court declared in February that the prohibition was “disproportionate” and infringed against the right to free speech. However, the prohibition is still in place because the government filed an appeal.

Defend Our Juries, the protest organizers, claim that hundreds of people have been charged and over 2,700 people have been arrested in connection with the group’s solidarity rallies.

Additionally, two demonstrators were detained at Lakenheath on Saturday and accused of blocking public roads, according to the police.

Starmer’s alleged lack of support in the US-Israel attack on Iran has angered US President Donald Trump, undermining the long-standing friendship between the two nations.

In the meantime, the UK has given the US permission to use British military installations to conduct “defensive” operations against Iran and safeguard the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which in peacetime transports around 20% of the world’s oil.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denounced the UK for permitting the US to utilize its military bases against Iran during a phone call with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on March 20.

“These actions will certainly be regarded as participation in aggression and will be recorded in the history of relations between our two countries,” he added.

Additionally, Araghchi urged UK authorities to abstain from any collaboration with the US and the Israeli government, including giving “terrorist” TV stations a platform to promote hostile acts against Iranians.

Eight months after launching unjustified assaults on Iran, the US and Israel launched a new round of aerial aggression on the country on February 28.

Iran launched waves of missile and drone attacks on Israeli-occupied territory as well as US bases and interests in neighboring nations in quick retaliation for the strikes.