RAF aircraft were put on full alert at Britain’s airbase in Akrotiri, Cyprus, today in 1979.
They were ready to transport Britons from Iran.
The Defence Ministry said depending on facilities at Tehran airport — which had been closed for some time — the airlift could be staged within 24 hours.
The new revolutionary government in Iran said the Shah’s top officers had been executed and it planned to confiscate all the exiled leader’s wealth.
The executions of four generals were the first to be officially reported since the Shah’s rule was ended by a bloody revolution four days earlier.