WATCH: US Military move aircraft away from a second UK air base following reported Iran threat
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The United States military has removed aircraft from a UK RAF base following a reported threat from Iran.
At least seven planes and two refuelling tankers were relocated away from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk on Monday afternoon and late evening.
A new security threat from Iran prompted the decision, though the exact nature of the threat is unknown.
It remains under discussion by US officials.
Several aircraft were moved to Germany.
The US upgraded its security status at the Sussex base to Force Protection Condition (FPCON) Charlie, the second-highest threat level that indicates a threat is likely.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations. Aircraft and other assets move regularly according to operational requirements.”
Lucy Powell told Sky News: “I can’t comment on those sort of live operations as you know, but we’re constantly keeping the security of our bases under review.
“And as we’ve seen with other cases recently, we take firm and quick action where we need to.”
The US Air Force said: “US Air Force aircraft rotate between installations and operating locations for a variety of reasons including training and real world requirements.
“US military aircraft are hosted in accordance with access, basing, and overflight agreements with our allies and partners.
“Due to operations security, we will not provide further information on movement of assets.”
It comes just weeks after the US removed B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, following an alleged terror plot.
Three suspicious vehicles were reported to police, prompting seven men, all in their 20s and including one British-Iranian national, to be arrested in connection with the investigation.
All seven suspects were later bailed, with Donald Trump admitting he was “surprised” the terror suspects had been released on bail, before pulling the bombers out of the base.
Two of the suspects, a 24-year-old UK national and a 25-year-old dual UK-Iranian national, both from London, have since been re-arrested on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023.
The country to which the investigation relates is Iran, police confirmed.
Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” the Islamic Republic played a part in the security incident.
“What I can say is that there are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend,” he told GB News days after the incident.
“It is, though, still an ongoing and very serious police investigation.”
Downing Street swiftly insisted that RAF Fairford is “safe” despite the US withdrawing their bomber fleet from the British airbase.
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said last month Iran was in “advanced stages” of their plans to target US personnel in the Middle East.
But Iran has said it could expand beyond the Middle East in their retaliation for the US attacks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday they have “addressed” the issue by “moving people away from the threat”.
President Trump took to social media yesterday, claiming: “Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East, the United States of America is ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to go.”
He added, however, that an escalation “seems to be quite unlikely” and the Middle East is “protected from Iranian danger and threats”.
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