U.S. pulls 12 B-1 bombers from UK base after new Iran-linked threat

The U.S. military withdrew its bombers from Royal Air Force Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, and returned them to the United States. Yonhap, citing the Associated Press and a U.S. Defense Department source, said all U.S. strategic bombers at the base had been moved to the U.S. mainland. Hankook Ilbo, Electronic Times and Dong-A Ilbo said 12 B-1 bombers left, and the Pentagon said they had been redeployed to their home base and were ready to carry out strikes from the mainland. [ 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 ]

Hankook Ilbo, citing The New York Times and multiple U.S. government officials, reported that the move followed a new threat from forces backed by Iran to attack the base. An official told the Times that the new information was in the same vein as a threat warning that emerged three weeks earlier, and that its specifics and urgency surged over the previous 24 hours; the content of the new threat has not been confirmed. Electronic Times reported the withdrawal was far faster than a normal movement of forces and that some bombers took off before aerial refuelling support was ready. [ 3 , 6 ]

Fairford hosts the U.S. Air Force's 501st Combat Support Wing and supports long-range bomber operations, according to Hankook Ilbo and Electronic Times. Yonhap said dozens of B-52 and B-1 bombers had operated from the base since the early days of the war with Iran that began in February, while Electronic Times said the operations began in late February. Dong-A Ilbo said Iran's Revolutionary Guard had earlier warned that bases used in attacks on Iran could be “legitimate targets”. [ 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 ]

British police arrested five British nationals near the base on September 27 on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences. Electronic Times said officers responded to reports of suspicious vehicles and masked men and that those held were men in their twenties. The vehicles contained no explosives but did carry petrol — Yonhap described a considerable amount, Hankook Ilbo a small amount. Hankook Ilbo and Electronic Times said a British-Iranian dual national was arrested later, bringing the total to six. [ 2 , 3 , 6 ]

British and U.S. officials have pointed to possible Iranian involvement. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were strong indications Iran played a role in the incident near Fairford, President Donald Trump mentioned possible links, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a foreign actor's hand was clearly involved, according to Yonhap. Electronic Times reported Defence Secretary Wes Streeting saying an Iranian hand was likely, while the British government has not officially identified the perpetrator; a senior U.S. official said the Revolutionary Guard recruited Britons for the plot. Iran denies involvement and summoned the British ambassador in Tehran on October 1, Hankook Ilbo reported. [ 2 , 3 , 6 ]

Yonhap, citing the Times, noted indications that Iran was borrowing Russia's hybrid-war model, using one-off agents recruited online with no direct link to its intelligence agencies. A U.S. counterterrorism specialist, Adrian Shutuni, told the Times that the Revolutionary Guard can cheaply recruit criminals and young people at any time, with layers of intermediaries so that a failure does not produce an expelled diplomat or a cause for war. Yonhap also reported that Trump is weighing an agreement with Iran against resuming military operations, that he said on October 3 that he has a decision to make and the only question is whether it will be the easy way or the hard way, and that the U.S. had sent an additional aircraft carrier and 10,000 troops to the Middle East. Dong-A Ilbo reported warnings that the risk of attack on U.S. bases in Germany had also risen. [ 2 , 7 ]