By Samuel Olusegun Precious
US President Donald Trump has confirmed that the country moved all its bombers out of RAF Fairford in the UK because of unspecified threats linked to Iran.
The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that all US bombers deployed to the base in Gloucestershire – including B-1s, B-2s and B-52s – have been redeployed to their home stations in the United States.
“There were some threats,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “And rather than tempting the enemy — we’ll capture the enemy and beat the enemy, but why should we leave them there? So we moved them around a little bit, not very far.”
“Was there a specific threat? Yeah, I think we can say that. They didn’t fly out by accident,” he added, saying Washington “actually knows the people that made the threat” and that they “would be linked to Iran.”
The withdrawal follows a major security incident on September 27, when police were called to RAF Fairford after a local farmer reported suspicious activity involving several vans near the base.British counter-terrorism police arrested five UK nationals in their mid-20s on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences, and later arrested a British-Iranian national on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts.
All six have since been released on bail. Police said no explosives were found but “a quantity of petrol was recovered.”
US officials told US media the abrupt move on Sunday was prompted by urgent concerns about a complex Iranian drone plot ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to target the aircraft and kill personnel. Vice President JD Vance said the aircraft were moved “out of an abundance of caution trying to protect our guys.”
The UK government insisted the base remains safe, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was confident in the security of all US bases and that London had been “more than cooperative” in the investigation.
