Iran knew Trump’s exact Ankara location as US detected missile threat against Air Force One: Report
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Iran knew Trump’s exact Ankara location as US detected missile threat against Air Force One: Report")
Image for representation Photograph: (AFP)
US intelligence uncovered a credible missile threat against Air Force One in Ankara, prompting a secret decoy operation where Donald Trump switched planes via a catering truck to leave Turkey safely.
Iranian operatives knew where US President Donald Trump was staying in Ankara, including the floor of the building where he was located, as US intelligence detected what officials described as a credible surface-to-air missile threat against Air Force One.
The New York Times reported that the threat emerged as Trump was preparing to leave the Turkish capital on July 8, the final day of the NATO summit. US intelligence gathered multiple streams of information pointing to a specific threat involving a surface-to-air missile targeting Air Force One, according to US officials familiar with the intelligence who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity.
The officials also said a person near the NATO summit had been seen carrying a shoulder-fired missile. The intelligence was considered serious enough for Trump and senior administration officials to carry out an elaborate decoy operation to get the president out of Turkey without revealing his actual movements.
Trump initially boarded Air Force One in front of television cameras after saying he would use the older presidential aircraft “for old time’s sake”. He was then secretly moved to a smaller military aircraft.
According to The Washington Post, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a C-32A military aircraft, a modified Boeing 757 commonly used by the vice-president. The transfer was carried out with the help of an airport catering truck, which was raised to the aircraft’s level on the opposite side from where Trump had boarded, allowing him to leave without being seen.
Trending Stories
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
Also read: ‘Make American children dead again’: Internet blasts at Trump over his child vaccine policy
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately via external stairs to make the departure appear routine, The Washington Post reported. Meanwhile, journalists and some White House staff remained aboard Air Force One and were reportedly instructed to keep the aircraft’s window shades closed. They were not informed that Trump had already left the plane.
A pool producer travelling aboard the aircraft recalled an unusual instruction for members of the press to keep the shades down. A photographer who briefly opened one of the shades was quickly told to close it, with the request attributed to the Secret Service.
