The United States Air Force has withdrawn all B-1 bombers stationed at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom, following the arrest of several individuals suspected of plotting terrorist attacks against the facility. The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that the aircraft had departed for their home stations in the US.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon stated, “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 re-deployed to their home stations in the United States.” Aircraft monitoring websites tracked the B-1s flying out of the base northwest of London earlier on Sunday.
The deployment had originally included a dozen B-1 bombers. London had previously authorized the Pentagon to launch sorties from Fairford targeting Iranian missile sites that were posing threats to ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The withdrawal comes approximately a week after UK police detained five British nationals at the airbase on suspicion of planning attacks. The arrests occurred after a local farmer reported observing suspicious activity involving a group of men in vans near the southwest England base. Although investigators cordoned off the area and deployed bomb disposal teams, no explosives were recovered from the vehicles.
Following their arrest, the suspects were released on bail, a decision that drew criticism from US President Donald Trump, who expressed disappointment. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham indicated on Wednesday that British authorities had “strong indications” of Iranian involvement in the suspected plot.
Tehran has dismissed the allegations as unfounded and has summoned the British ambassador to Tehran to address the accusations.
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