US withdraws B-1 bombers from British Fairford base after counter-terrorism investigation

The United States announced on Sunday that it had withdrawn its B-1 strategic bombers from the British military base at Fairford, after the recent incident which led to the opening of an anti-terrorism investigation with multiple gray areas. London had put forward “clear indications” of Iran’s role in this matter, which Tehran denied, when Washington mentioned the involvement of a “foreign actor”

On September 27, police intervened near Fairford Air Base, in the southwest of England, after “three suspicious vehicles” were reported to emergency services. A vast perimeter had been cordoned off and dozens of homes evacuated around the installation, used by the American army for “defensive operations”, according to London, in the war led by the United States against Iran. Inside the vehicles, the police said they found “no explosive device”, but gasoline “in quantity”.

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“All American bombers that had been deployed on the base of (...) Fairford have been redeployed to their original bases in the United States,” the American Department of Defense finally indicated on Sunday in a press release, without giving a reason. The American army had notably deployed B-1 Lancer supersonic strategic bombers on this base, renowned for their very long range and their very significant capacity for transporting missiles and bombs. According to several American media, a dozen aircraft were still parked there until recent days.

Six arrests

In total, six men aged 23 to 25 were arrested in connection with the case: five Britons on the spot, then a British-Iranian a few days later, on suspicion of “preparing a terrorist act”. They were eventually all released under judicial supervision. “I wouldn’t have done that,” responded US President Donald Trump after the release on bail of five of them. This case has multiple gray areas and is the subject of an “immensely complex” investigation, according to the anti-terrorism coordinator, Vicki Evans. The investigations follow “all possible angles, including that of the role of a foreign state,” she said.

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the BBC that there were "clear indications that Iran played a role" in the incident. In July, the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, warned that any base used to launch attacks against Iran would constitute a "legitimate target", according to the media The Telegraph. But for the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, the British authorities are “going on the wrong track”. Tehran “categorically” denied any involvement.