US planes land at Scottish airport during operation to seize tanker

Military aircraft landed at a small civilian airport in the Highlands before flying north during a US Coast Guard operation to board a Russia-bound tanker in the North Atlantic.

The Marinera has been accused by the US of breaking its sanctions on the shipping of Iranian oil, and historically the vessel has transported Venezuelan crude oil.

BBC Scotland News understands at least three US Air Force planes - U-28A Dracos - took off from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and landed at Wick John O'Groats Airport at about 11:00 before leaving at about midday.

The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Royal Navy tanker RFA Tideforce and RAF surveillance aircraft supported the US operation.

The MoD said the ship was on its way to Russia and it backed the action against "sanction busting" activity by "shadow fleets" which it said was in compliance with international law.

The Scottish government, which owns Wick airport, has been approached for comment. Military and foreign policy matters fall under UK government powers.

The US has accused the Russian-flagged Marinera of trying to "evade the Coast Guard for weeks".

A second tanker, the Sophia, was also boarded near the Caribbean on Wednesday.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the ships were "either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it".

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said the capture of the Marinera was authorised by a US court order.

She described the vessel as being part of a "Venezuelan shadow fleet" which transported sanctioned oil.

Leavitt added that the court order authorising the seizure of the vessel also covered its crew, meaning they could be brought to the US and prosecuted.

The operation follows the seizing of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro by US special forces last week.

Flight tracking websites showed US special operations aircraft landing at Wick John O'Groats before flying further north towards Iceland on Wednesday.

The U-28A aircraft are flown by the US Air Force's special operations command and are used for intelligence-gathering and coordinating other aircraft.

The airport at Wick is a civilian site operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd.

The MoD said UK Armed Forces provided "pre-planned operational support", including bases, to the US military.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey said the Marinera, formerly known as Bella 1, was intercepted while on its way to Russia.

He said: "This action formed part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting."

The Scottish Greens have criticised the seizure calling the move "piracy at sea".

Former co-leader Patrick Harvie accused the US of "increasingly acting like a rogue state".

He added it was "long past the time that the UK government recognised the far right government in the US as the security threat that it so clearly is".

The Russian transport ministry said the tanker only had "a temporary permission" to fly the Russian flag, and that "no state has the right to use force against vessels properly registered in other countries' jurisdictions".

Russian officials have not commented on reports saying that Moscow had sent a submarine to protect the tanker.

BBC Verify has been monitoring military flights around the area of the North Atlantic where the Marinera has been seized by US authorities.

Tracking data from sites including FlightRadar24 show three Pilatus U-28A Draco aircraft flying up Scotland's east coast to Wick Airport, then on to Reykjavik in Iceland.

Earlier the same aircraft flew from RAF Mildenhall in England. These planes are typically used by US Air Force Special Operations Command for reconnaissance and other specialist missions.

Available flight records show they have been primarily active in North America over the last two years.

Several other US aircraft have flown around the west coast of Scotland and south of Iceland, including a Poseidon reconnaissance plane and a Boeing KC-135T Stratotanker used for refuelling.

It is unclear if all of these flights are involved with monitoring the Marinera. But the area of operation corresponds with the location of the oil tanker during this period.