U.S. removes B-1 bombers from U.K. base after terror arrests

Open this photo in gallery:Police officers stand at a checkpoint near RAF Fairford air base, in Fairford, England, on Tuesday. A dozen U.S. B-1 bombers were stationed at RAF Fairford air base.Alastair Grant/The Associated PressThe United States removed its B-1 bombers from a U.K. air base one week after several men were arrested there on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, a Pentagon official said on Sunday. A dozen B-1 bombers were stationed at RAF Fairford air base, located northwest of London. The planes had been used for US strikes on Iran. “While operational security precluded us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real-time, 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,” a Pentagon spokesman wrote in an e-mail.No explosives found after arrests near a U.S.-run military base, British police sayBritain has “strong indications” that Iran was involved in a suspected plot targeting the base, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday. Iran said accusations linking Tehran to the alleged plan were baseless and summoned the British ambassador in Tehran over the issue. The Wall Street Journal first reported that the aircraft were removed from the base amid security concerns over suspected terror plots against the facility.The British government had allowed the U.S. to use bombers based at Fairford to strike Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.U.S. President Donald Trump said those involved in the plot had planned “big damage” while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also pointed to the “hands of a foreign actor.”