US President Donald Trump said on Monday that his country’s bombers had been withdrawn from RAF Fairford in south-west England because of threats targeting the aircraft, indicating that those behind them were linked to Iran. His comments came after Washington announced that all the bombers stationed at the British base had returned to sites in the United States.
Trump told reporters at the White House: “There were threats, so instead of leaving them exposed to enemies... we moved them a little, we didn’t move them very far.” He added that US authorities knew who was behind the threat, saying: “They’re linked to Iran.” US Vice-President JD Vance had said Washington decided to withdraw the bombers as an extreme precaution.
He told reporters: “We have a belief that the Iranians are trying, as the Iranian state has done for 49 years, to engage in terrorist activities against the United States and others, so we’re being extremely cautious, and that’s all I’ll say on that.”
Rubio denies direct link between withdrawal and threat
By contrast, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a different explanation, saying earlier that there was no direct link between the sudden withdrawal of the bombers and the suspected Iranian plot. He said the Pentagon was constantly redeploying its resources according to need, while British government bodies confirmed that RAF Fairford was safe.
The United States announced on Sunday that it had withdrawn all its bombers from the Royal Air Force base after an unexplained security incident the previous month led to the opening of a counter-terrorism investigation. A Pentagon official said all the US bombers stationed at Fairford had returned to their bases in the United States, adding that operational security considerations had prevented confirmation of equipment and troop movements at the time.
Counter-terrorism investigation begins after base incident
The incident began on 27 September, when police were called to the base following a report of “suspicious” activity involving a group of men and several vans. Authorities subsequently evacuated 85 homes near the air facility, which the United States had used to carry out strikes on Iran.
Lawrence Taylor, head of Britain’s National Counter Terrorism Policing unit, said investigators had found no explosives inside the vans but had discovered quantities of petrol. Speculation about the motive ranged from a possible terrorist threat to an attempt to steal fuel, as prices in Britain reached record levels during the week.
An unidentified US official was quoted as saying that the bombers had been moved after a “new, unspecified threat” emerged, describing the development as a “real-world incident”. The official also said that returning the bombers to their original bases, rather than moving them to another base in the region, was unusual. US officials said commanders had received new threats concerning an Iran-backed plot targeting RAF Fairford.
One official said the new information formed part of warnings about the same threats that had emerged three weeks earlier, but that the situation had become urgent during the 24 hours before the aircraft were moved.
Britain and Tehran trade accusations over incident
A British government spokesperson, responding to a journalist’s question on Monday, confirmed that RAF Fairford was safe and said Britain had effective means of defending its bases at home and abroad. Reports also indicated that security measures at the base had been tightened recently. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications that Iran had a role” in the incident.
Tehran rejected the accusation, with its embassy in London saying it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” speculation about Iran’s involvement. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that Burnham was “knocking on the wrong door”. Authorities released on bail six British men living in London who had been detained in connection with the incident, including one person who holds British and Iranian citizenship.
All those detained are men in their mid-20s, and their release prompted criticism from Washington. Vicky Evans, the senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing, described the investigation as “highly complex”. In a statement issued on Thursday, she said police were examining “all possible hypotheses, including the possibility of foreign state involvement”.
The mystery surrounding the incident deepened after British media reports said that one of the suspects was the person who initially alerted police to the incident, although police did not comment on the reports. Aerial footage showed that the vans were carrying what appeared to be barrels, while at least one had been given a fake brand name and telephone number, creating the impression that it belonged to a diesel fuel delivery company.
Bomber withdrawal temporarily limits Washington’s options
Britain had authorised Washington in March to use RAF Fairford for “specific defensive operations inside Iran”. Since then, US bombers and other aircraft have been seen taking off from and landing at the base. Fairford is the only air base on the British mainland used by the United States for this purpose.
Christoph Biers, a researcher and analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, said the withdrawal of the bombers would, in the short term, reduce the US ability to “rapidly intensify sorties against Iran, somewhat lowering the level of threat”. Biers noted that the use of RAF Fairford had already been limited by conditions set by London regarding defensive strikes.
He added that the aircraft could theoretically be sent to Diego Garcia or bases in the Gulf region, reducing the need for aerial refuelling to cover the additional distance, but that this depended on available capacity, negotiations with allies and security considerations. The US Air Force has used RAF Fairford since the Cold War era.
The United States had also previously used the base for military operations during the Gulf War in the early 1990s and later during the Iraq War in 2003.
