The United States has withdrawn its B-1 bombers from a British air base used for strikes on Iran, a week after several men were arrested near the base on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, a Pentagon official said on Sunday.
A dozen B-1 bombers had been stationed at RAF Fairford, north-west of London, The Express Tribune reported, citing Reuters.
“While operational security precluded us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real-time, we can acknowledge now that all US bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have redeployed to their home stations in the United States,” a Pentagon spokesman said.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the planes had been moved over security concerns.
The suspected plot
British police detained five men in the early hours of a Sunday last week after a tip-off that three large white vans had been seen heading towards the airfield. They were questioned on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences. Six arrests have now been made in the investigation.
A local farmer said she alerted police after seeing a group of “hooded and masked men” running into the fields.
US President Donald Trump said the suspects had planned “big damage”, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio pointed to the “hands of a foreign actor”.
The five men detained near the base were later released on bail, as were two more questioned in London, including a 27-year-old dual UK-Iranian national arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. Investigators said they found petrol, an accelerant, in three vans linked to the first suspects, but no explosives.
Britain points to Iran
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday there were “strong indications” that Iran was involved. Iran rejected the accusations as baseless and summoned the British ambassador in Tehran. British officials say MI5 has uncovered about 20 Iran-backed plots posing potentially lethal threats on UK soil since 2022.
Why Fairford mattered
Britain had allowed the US to fly bombers from Fairford to strike Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. That made the base a symbol of Britain’s role in the war, and a potential target.
A war that reaches Europe
The incident shows how the conflict between the US and Iran, now in its eighth month, is spilling far beyond the Gulf:
- Shipping: tankers continue to be attacked near the Strait of Hormuz
- Saudi Arabia: Houthi forces aligned with Iran are attacking Saudi oil sites
- Europe: the alleged plot brought fears of attacks to bases far from the battlefield
Iran’s warning
Iran, meanwhile, is warning Washington against escalation. A senior Revolutionary Guards commander, Ali Fadavi, said on Iranian state television that if the US launched a ground invasion, Iran would “target every location related to the Americans, American bases and every vessel related to the Americans”, Anadolu Agency reported.
Why it matters
Moving the bombers home removes a high-profile target from British soil, but it also signals how seriously Washington and London take the threat. With Trump hinting that strikes on Iran could resume after the US midterm elections, the question of where US warplanes are based, and how safe those bases are, will only grow. Read our report on Trump’s comments on the war.
This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune and Reuters.
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