Last Updated on 29 May 2026 by Cameron Baillie
Scotland is apparently complicit in Trump’s illegal, Zionist-led war on Iran. That is: concretely, materially and operationally complicit, via a publicly owned airport in South Ayrshire.
Scotland — flights implicated in war crimes
The National‘s analysis of flight tracking records reveals that US military aircraft departed Glasgow Prestwick Airport at least eight times in May 18–25. These seven days preceded Monday’s renewed strikes on Iran.
Among aircraft identified were the C-17 Globemaster and the Lockheed C-130T Hercules. Both are heavy military transport planes, flying onwards to staging posts including Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily. The Sicilian bas is a key hub in the architecture of US operations in West Asia.
The week before, by contrast, had zero identifiable US military departures from Prestwick.
This isn’t the first time this pattern has emerged. Immediately before late February’s Operation Epic (or AIPAC) Fury, the US military used Prestwick at least 32 times in the preceding ten days.
Those illegal strikes killed Iran’s then-leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei and opened the current phase of the war, leading to thousands of civilian deaths. Most criminally, these strikes included the Minab school massacre which killed around 170 innocent people, mostly young girls and their teachers.
Recorded flights included onward flights to US and NATO military hubs in the Mediterranean and West Asia and, on some occasions, to Israel. One military intelligence expert told the National at the time that the data constituted “concrete proof” the airport was embedded in the US’s illegal bombing supply chain.
This pattern is now repeating. Whatever the MoD says about “defensive missions,” the planes are flying, they’re going before strikes happen, and they’re leaving from Scotland’s publicly owned airport.
U.S. found responsible for strike on Minab school, but shambolic Trump evades accountability
Hugely unpopular war polling
Trump warmly congratulated Swinney — a “good man” — on his recent election win. The two looked chummy together in the Oval Office (see top) and Swinney was the only devolved leader to attend Trump’s Windsor Castle banquet in 2025.
However, Swinney “politely declined” to return to Washington in April, amid the war. (He blamed the May elections but has separately called for “de-escalation” in the Iran war.
For anyone still inclined to frame this as a niche concern of the anti-war left, polling previously published by Scotland on Sunday offers a correction.
Fifty-six percent of Scots oppose US bombers using Prestwick Airport. Sixty percent oppose the US-Israeli war on Iran altogether. Only a quarter support the military action.
The opposition runs to 70% among SNP voters, 70% among Scottish Greens supporters, and 76% among Liberal Democrats. Even 55% of Scottish Labour voters oppose Prestwick’s use.
Scottish opinion researcher Mark Diffley put it clearly: 25% public support in the early stages of any conflict is already very low. As this war drags on, particularly when it inevitably hits fuel prices and household bills,
even that 25% could really fall away.
The Scottish Tories and Reform are outliers, with majorities of their voters backing the war. This speaks volumes about which side of this debate is out of step with the Scottish public.
Scotland does not want this war. It does not want its publicly owned infrastructure used to prosecute this war. And the UK government, with the power to stop it, will not confirm what it is doing — let alone explain why.
Featured image via Robert Perry / Getty Images
