US moves bombers from UK airbase after suspected Iranian plot

In short: The United States has withdrawn all its B-1 bombers from a UK air base. The UK government insists the RAF Fairford site is safe following a recent incident involving masked men. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says there are "strong indications that Iran played a part", a claim rejected by Tehran. The United States has withdrawn all B-1 bombers from a British air base a week after five men were arrested nearby on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. Police were called to RAF Fairford in south-west England on September 27 after a local farmer reported a group of men with several vans engaged in "suspicious" activity. The scare prompted a counter-terrorism probe and forced evacuations at 85 homes near the air base, where the US planes had been stationed including some used to carry out recent strikes on Iran. The UK government insists RAF Fairford is safe, despite Prime Minister Andy Burnham saying the suspected plot was likely backed by Iran. "We have tried and tested approaches to defend our bases around the country and throughout the world," Mr Burnham told reporters. Security at the base has been heightened since the incident. A statement from a Pentagon official on Sunday said "we can acknowledge now that all US bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the United States". The statement noted that "operational security precluded us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real-time". US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, local time, expressed "confidence in the security of all of our bases". US facilities "theoretically could be threatened at any moment, and that's why there's so much security built around them,"he said. He said Washington had worked with London on the investigation and "they couldn't be more cooperative". Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in late July that the base was a legitimate target but have denied accusations it was involved in any plot. Iran's embassy in London said it "categorically rejects and strongly condemns" that speculation. US bombers are not stationed permanently at RAF Fairford but they have been taking off and landing at the base after Britain gave Washington permission in March to use Fairford for "specific defensive operations into Iran". Fairford is the only air base on Britain's mainland used for this purpose. Christoph Bergs, research analyst at defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said the redeployment would in the short term reduce the US's capacity "to quickly surge sorties against Iran, reducing the threat level somewhat". AFP/Reuters