US Pulls B-1 Bombers From RAF Fairford After Security Scare

The United States has withdrawn all B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in Britain following a security incident that triggered a counter-terrorism investigation, the Pentagon confirmed Sunday.

Police were called to the airbase in southwest England on September 27 after a local farmer reported several vans and a group of men behaving in a “suspicious” manner. The incident led to the evacuation of 85 homes near the base, which has been used by the United States to launch strikes on Iran.

The farmer, who lives in the village of Whelford near the airbase, had reported seeing three vans blocking a road while masked men fled the area. Aerial footage showed that the vans appeared to contain barrels, with at least one carrying a fake logo and phone number intended to make it appear to belong to a legitimate diesel delivery company.

Counter-terrorism investigators found no explosives in the vehicles. Instead, “a quantity of petrol was recovered,” National Counter Terrorism Policing head Lawrence Taylor said.

A Pentagon official said the US bombers had now been returned to their bases in the United States. “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,” the official said.

At least 10 of the 12 B-1 bombers at Fairford left the base Sunday, including aircraft that had arrived less than a week earlier as part of a rotation, highlighting the speed of the withdrawal and the importance Washington appeared to attach to the threat.

The Pentagon official who spoke about the redeployment was not authorized to discuss sensitive military movements and spoke on condition of anonymity. The UK Ministry of Defence had not immediately commented.

US media reports said the withdrawal appeared to have been prompted by new or renewed concerns over security at the base. The New York Times reported that US officials declined to identify the information that led to the rapid departure, while one US official said it was connected to threat warnings that had emerged three weeks earlier and that specific details and the level of urgency had increased sharply over the previous 24 hours.

The motives behind the incident remained the subject of speculation, ranging from a potential terror threat to fuel theft as energy prices in Britain reached record levels this week.

Six London-based Britons were arrested during the investigation and later released on bail, including a dual British-Iranian national. One account said five of those arrested were men in their mid-20s. British authorities have linked the incident to Tehran, while Iran has denied any involvement.

Donald Trump criticized the decision to release the suspects. “I wouldn't have done that,” the US president told reporters, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a “foreign actor” was involved.

Iran’s embassy in London said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” speculation that Tehran was involved.

Security at RAF Fairford had reportedly been increased recently. Britain gave Washington permission in March to use the base for “specific defensive operations into Iran,” and US bombers and other aircraft have since been seen arriving and departing from the facility.

RAF Fairford is the only airbase on mainland Britain used for that purpose. Located 100 miles (160km) west of London, it has been used by US bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East.

Its recent use followed permission from then-British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for Washington to conduct “defensive” strikes against Tehran from British bases.

The US military continues to maintain a sizeable presence in the Middle East. A US official said Thursday that the recently deployed USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier and the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group were heading toward the region. Together, the ships carry more than 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines, and the move could result in three US carriers being in the region as early as the end of October.