Pentagon withdraws US bombers from British base RAF Fairford

After the incident at a US air base in Great Britain, the Pentagon withdrew its long-range bombers from there. "We can now confirm that all US bombers stationed at RAF Fairford have returned to their home bases in the United States," a US Defense Department official said in response to a request for comment.

For reasons of operational security, the department was previously unable to comment on "movements of our resources and armed forces in real time," the Pentagon said.

According to US information, there are twelve B-1 bombers. The British government had allowed the USA to launch bombers from there to carry out attacks on Iranian missile sites from which ships in the Strait of Hormuz had been attacked.

Arrests for suspected terrorist plots

The background is an investigation into a suspected planned terrorist attack on the RAF Fairford base. A British-Iranian citizen was arrested in London on Thursday on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack. A few days earlier there was a security incident in the immediate vicinity of the base in which five men were arrested. All six suspects are now at large again.

British authorities link the incident to Iran. Tehran denies involvement.

According to information from the New York Times, new threats against the military base were the reason for the surprise withdrawal of the US bombers. There is information about an Iranian-backed attack on the base, the newspaper reported, citing two US officials. When asked about this, the Pentagon did not want to comment further.