US aircraft reportedly evacuated from second British base due to Iran threat

The US military evacuated aircraft from a second airbase in Britain on Monday after a threat from Iran, the Wall Street Journal ‌reported, citing people familiar with the matter, weeks after Washington withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford airbase over a suspected Iran-linked security incident.Two US ​refuelling tankers that were using the RAF Mildenhall military base diverted to Germany earlier on Monday, while several other tankers at the base were moved to Germany and other locations later in the day, the Wall Street Journal report said.According to the report, the ​precise nature of the threat to RAF Mildenhall remains under discussion among US officials.The US upgraded the security posture at RAF Mildenhall ⁠and RAF Lakenheath to Force ‌Protection ​Condition (FPCON) Charlie, the report said, citing a US official familiar with the ‌matter.READ MOREFPCON Charlie is the second-highest defensive threat level in the US department of defence’s security system and occurs when intelligence indicates that a form of terrorist action ⁠is likely.“We do not routinely comment ​on the activity of other nations. Aircraft and other assets ​move regularly according to operational requirements,” a British ministry of defence spokesperson said.A US Air Force spokesperson declined ‌to provide details about the ​movement of assets, but said US aircraft rotate between installations and operating locations for a variety of reasons.Reuters ⁠could not immediately reach the US Air ⁠Force, while the White ​House, the Pentagon and the US European Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.Five men were arrested outside RAF Fairford airbase in southwest England in September over a security incident with two others arrested later on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence.The circumstances of the incident, which remain largely unexplained, attracted huge international attention, coming at a time of heightened concern about the security implications for western states of the war between the United States and ‌Iran, and prompted the US ⁠to remove its B-1 bombers from the Fairford airbase on security grounds.RAF Fairford had been used by US bombers to carry out strikes on Iran.British prime minister Andy Burnham said ‌last month that the activity at RAF Fairford was likely to have been co-ordinated in Iran.While Tehran’s ambassador to Britain has denied ​accusations that it was involved in any plot against the airbase, Iran’s Revolutionary ​Guards said in July that the Fairford base and any other base used to launch attacks against Iran were legitimate targets. – Reuters