Wall Street Journal: America transferred military aircraft from a British base after an Iranian threat

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing informed sources, that the United States on Monday evacuated American military aircraft from a military base in England, against the backdrop of a threat from Iran.

The newspaper reported that American officials are still assessing the nature of the threat directed against the base, which is the Mildenhall base of the British Royal Air Force (RAF Mildenhall).

Flight tracking data analyzed by CNN shows that 10 American refueling planes were transferred from the Mildenhall base on Monday.

Four of these aircraft (KC-135 Stratotanker) headed to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, one headed to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, while four aircraft were transferred to Moron Air Base in Spain, and one aircraft headed to Glasgow Prestwick Airport in Scotland.

The Wall Street Journal and The War Zone website, which specializes in defense affairs, quoted an American official on Monday as saying that the United States had raised the security threat level at the British Royal Air Force’s Mildenhall and Lakenheath bases to the level of “FPCON Charlie.”

This level - the second highest in the Pentagon's Forces Protection System - is an indicator of the possibility of a terrorist act or military targeting.

An official at the US European Command told CNN: “US Air Force aircraft move between installations and operational sites for a variety of reasons, including training and actual operational requirements... Due to operational security considerations, we will not provide further information about the movements of these assets.”

CNN has also reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense stated that the ministry “does not usually comment on the activities of other countries,” adding that “aircraft and other assets move regularly in accordance with operational requirements.”

The movement of these aircraft comes after another threat linked to Iran last month that targeted another military base in England, RAF Fairford.

The air base was used by US B-1 bombers to carry out strikes against Iran, but was withdrawn for security reasons shortly after five men were arrested outside the base in the early hours of September 27.

British prosecutors brought charges against two British citizens under the National Security Act in connection with the incident that occurred outside the RAF Fairford base, where police said the two suspects were believed to have provided assistance to Iran.