US military aircraft have reportedly been moved from a second air base in Britain following a threat from Iran. On Monday morning, two US refuelling aircraft at RAF Mildenhall left for Germany. Several more refuelling aircraft at the base were moved to Germany and elsewhere at different times during the day.
The British daily The Guardian reported on Tuesday (November 10) that the details came from a report by the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal. A few weeks earlier, in September, Washington had moved bombers from RAF Fairford over fears of an Iran-related security threat.
The report said US officials had been discussing exactly what kind of threat had been made against Mildenhall.
Lucy Powell, a member of the British cabinet, said the security of the UK’s military bases is reviewed regularly. She told Sky News she could not comment on ongoing military operations, but that the security of the bases is kept under constant review and swift, firm action is taken when needed.
A spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defence said: “We do not routinely comment on other countries’ military activity. Aircraft and other equipment are regularly moved from one place to another according to the needs of military operations.”
Citing a US official, The Wall Street Journal report said the United States had raised the security alert level at Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath. Mildenhall has been placed under “Force Protection Condition Charlie”, the second-highest alert in the US Department of Defense’s security system. The alert is issued when intelligence points to the likelihood of a terrorist attack.
However, there was reportedly no specific threat of an attack inside or around the base, and no one has been arrested. This suggests the threat the US authorities received was a general one.
A US Air Force spokesperson said aircraft are moved from one base to another for various reasons, including training and real military needs. US military aircraft are stationed in allied and partner countries under agreements with them. The spokesperson declined to give details of the aircraft movements, citing the security of military operations.
In September, five people were arrested on suspicion of planning an attack outside RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Two more people, besides those arrested in that case, later appeared in court. They were charged under the National Security Act 2023. Abdulkarim, a resident of Westminster, has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service. Police had earlier said they believed that service to be Iran’s.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham claimed last month that the activity at the Fairford base had probably been coordinated from Iran.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, however, has denied any involvement in a plan to attack the base. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, for its part, said in July that it regards any military base used to carry out attacks on Iran, Fairford included, as a legitimate target.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report