The UK’s ‘top secret’ rescue plan to get stranded Brits out of Dubai | UK | News
The UK is launching a secretive operation to support around 200,000 British nationals stranded in the Gulf as Iranian strikes hammer the region in response to ongoing attacks by Israel and the US. Government officials are thought to be developing plans to evacuate UK nationals on holiday or in transit in the region amid airspace closures that have seen flights diverted and cancelled to and from international hubs including Tel Aviv, Dubai and Doha. Iranian attacks have “hit airports and hotels where British citizens are staying” in the hours since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli attack on Saturday, according to the Prime Minister.
The ambitious rescue plan, which will be unprecedented in terms of capacity and the number of countries involved, will also be gradual and secretive, according to Amnon Aran, professor of International Politics of the Middle East at City St George’s, University of London. Its large-scale nature means it will likely be launched in phases and “not advertised at a public level”, Professor Aran said. “The first phase will be creating the database of who’s there, then forming a triage on the basis of things like necessity and age,” he told the Express.
“But the main challenge will be the actual operational aspect. I think planes will have to come from abroad in time windows, landing for a very brief period, amassing people, then going back to the UK or another regional hub.”
Government officials could gradually scale up the rescue missions, initially flying out smaller groups to identify potential flaws, and evacuating people to countries like Saudi Arabia to later be returned to the UK, depending on how the conflict evolves.
“People will be given a time and a place, then a plane will land, board them, and try to be in and out as fast as possible,” Professor Aran said.
“There will have to be very tight coordination with different militaries because there’s a lot of traffic going around that area, from the Israeli air force, the American air force and the various interceptors. All of that will have to be synchronised quite carefully.”
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Professor Aran, who specialises in the foreign policy of Middle Eastern states, said the situation remains unpredictable – with Governments around the world likely on standby in case of escalation.
“It’s impossible to say what Iran will do next,” he said. “The level of conflict could reduce, or it could escalate to the point where it becomes impossible, at least temporarily, to evacuate people.
“They have not confirmed the successor of the Supreme Leader, and over the last few days we’ve seen a lot of volatility in Iranian foreign policy.
“It could be partly deception, but it could also reflect an internal political battle that’s going on. They were willing to talk, then the next day they weren’t willing to talk.
“There is a power vacuum at the top of the leadership at the moment. I think that’s what’s behind this simultaneous attack on all the Gulf countries, which is a significant miscalculation by the Iranians. It’s not clear who’s making the decisions.”