The Pentagon removed about a dozen B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford to US bases. Downing Street said the Gloucestershire base was safe. US officials linked the move to threat warnings.
The United States withdrew its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire over the weekend, and the Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that the aircraft had returned to home stations in the United States. BBC News said the deployment was thought to number about a dozen B-1s.
A No 10 spokesperson declined to comment on another country's military operations but said the base was safe, pointing to earlier praise from President Donald Trump for British police and security services. Whitehall sources did not dispute that Washington's decision responded to an incident at the airbase, and the BBC was told the call was military rather than political.
The withdrawal followed a 27 September major incident in which five British men were arrested and later bailed after police were alerted to three vehicles near the perimeter. At the weekend a UK-Iranian dual national was arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts and also released on bail, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner reported.
Vice-President JD Vance called the departure an abundance of caution and said Washington believed Iran was engaging in terrorism. Trump said the bombers were moved because of some threats and that the United States had shifted the planes rather than tempting an enemy. The New York Times, cited by the BBC, reported that US commanders received new warnings of an Iran-backed plot, according to two US officials.
Those threat claims come from officials and have not been set out in a public charging document in the sources used here. Downing Street's position remains that Fairford is safe. The bombers are back at continental US bases, the Pentagon told reporters.
People Sentiments Negative
- Downing Street said RAF Fairford was safe.
- Vance framed the withdrawal as caution over alleged Iranian terrorism.