US bomber transferred from RAF Fairford to the USA on suspicion of terrorism

The US Air Force has moved its bombers based at an air base in Great Britain back to the USA. "We can now confirm that all US bombers that were stationed at the RAF Fairford base have returned to their home bases in the United States," said a US Defense Department official in response to a request from the dpa news agency.

The background is an investigation into a suspected planned terrorist attack on the RAF Fairford base. The long-range bombers have been returned to military bases in the United States, a Defense Department official said on Sunday. Aviation observers such as the Military Air Tracking Alliance had captured numerous B-52 and B-1 bombers at the base since the start of the Iran War. On Sunday they recorded the departure of several B-1 bombers.

Most recently, a British-Iranian citizen was arrested in London on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack. This was preceded by a security incident at the base at the end of September. A total of six people were arrested during the investigation and later released on bail.

Britain accuses Iran of involvement

British authorities link the incident to Iran. The government in Tehran rejects involvement. Iran had previously said bases used for attacks on its territory were legitimate targets.

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.

According to the New York Times, the need to move the bombers away from RAF Fairford was deemed so urgent that some planes and their crews were already taking off, while the required tankers still had to be prepared for support over the Atlantic. Accordingly, a US official said that the information was part of the warnings from three weeks ago. However, the situation has worsened in the last 24 hours due to specific details.