The US military moved aircraft out of a second airbase in Britain on Monday after a threat from Iran, Reuters quoting the Wall Street Journal reported. The move came weeks after Washington withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford over a suspected Iran-linked security incident.
Two US refuelling tankers that had been using RAF Mildenhall were diverted to Germany earlier on Monday. Several other tankers at the base were moved to Germany and other locations later in the day, according to the Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.
The newspaper said US officials were still discussing the precise nature of the threat to the base.
Citing a US official familiar with the matter, the Journal said the US had raised the security level at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath to FPCON Charlie. This is the second-highest threat level in the US Department of Defense’s force protection system, and it applies when intelligence indicates that some form of terrorist action is likely.
“We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations,” a spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defence said, adding that aircraft and other assets move regularly according to operational requirements.
A US Air Force spokesperson declined to give the Journal details of the movements, but said US aircraft rotate between installations and operating locations for a variety of reasons.
Reuters could not immediately reach the US Air Force. The White House, the Pentagon and US European Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.
The Fairford incident
Five men were arrested outside RAF Fairford in southwest England in September over a security incident. Two others were later arrested on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence.
The incident, whose circumstances remain largely unexplained, drew intense international attention. It came amid heightened concern about the security implications for Western states of the war between the United States and Iran, and prompted the US to remove its B-1 bombers from Fairford on security grounds. US bombers had used the base to carry out strikes on Iran.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last month that the activity at RAF Fairford was likely to have been coordinated in Iran.
Tehran’s ambassador to Britain has denied that Iran was involved in any plot against the airbase. However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in July that Fairford, and any other base used to launch attacks on Iran, were legitimate targets.
(Reuters)
