The US has withdrawn all of its bombers from RAF Fairford, the UK military base at the centre of an incident being investigated by counter-terror police.
A statement from a Pentagon official confirmed on Sunday it had removed its bombers – thought to be about a dozen B-1s – from the base back to their home stations in America.
US media reported a new threat led to the bombers being removed, which follows a major incident on 27 September when police were alerted to three “suspicious vehicles” near the airbase.
Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of terror offences and subsequently released on bail. A sixth man, a UK-Iranian national, was also later arrested and released on bail.
Whitehall officials have confirmed that in relation to the threats they are currently dealing with “there is an ongoing high tempo of threat from Iran to the UK, and it’s logical that US airbases would be pretty high on any targeting list”.
They have also not disputed the decision from Washington was in response to the incident at the airbase in Gloucestershire.
The BBC has also been told it was a military rather than a political decision – taken at an operational level – and communicated from the US military to its British counterparts.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has not commented.
Tracking websites showed B-1 bombers flying out of RAF Fairford on Sunday.
The New York Times reported US commanders had received new threats about an Iran-backed plot against RAF Fairford according to two US officials.
The newspaper wrote the new information was part of the same threat warnings from three weeks ago, but officials acted quickly after specific details emerged in the past 24 hours.
The planes reportedly took off while aerial refueling aircraft were still being scrambled to support their flights to the US.
Days after the incident at RAF Fairford, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” that Iran had played a part in the incident but did not provide further details. Tehran has strongly denied any involvement.
Initially, five men aged between 23 and 25 were arrested in the early hours of the morning after vehicles were reported to be travelling towards the base operated by the US Air Force (USAF). All five were UK nationals from London.
They were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and later on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, before being released on bail in what police called an “investigative decision” that was “grounded in experience and strategy”.
The sixth man, aged 25, was arrested in London on Thursday on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts. Counter terror police confirmed on Saturday he had also been released on bail.
In recent months, the US has flown B-1 and B-52 bombers from the base for the Middle East, after the UK approved a US request to use it for defensive strikes on Iran.
