The US has pulled out all its B-1 bombers from a UK air base targeted last week in a foiled terror plot that Iran was believed to be behind, American officials said.
The Department of War yanked a dozen B-1s from Royal Air Force Fairford base, which the US had been using to quickly launch strikes on Iran from, over security concerns following the thwarted attack last Sunday.
“[W]e can acknowledge now that all U.S. bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have redeployed to their home stations in the United States,” the Pentagon said in a statement, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
A Rockwell B1 Lancer heavy bomber takes off from runway 27 to depart for home at RAF Fairford on October 04, 2026 in Fairford, United Kingdom. Getty Images
The alleged terrorist plan was stopped before it could be carried out after authorities arrested five suspects, later identified as British nationals, who appeared to have been plotting a van bomb attack against the airfield, police said.
The crew of suspected terrorists was nabbed after eagle-eyed residents in the village of Whelford in Gloucester noticed suspicious vans full of “Middle Eastern-looking men” wearing masks and balaclavas on a country lane.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said that there were “strong indications” that the Iranian government played a part in the initial plot — which was believed to have picked the Fairford base for the American bombers stored there.
Concrete blocks being maneuvered into place by the RAF Fairford main gate entrance on October 1, 2026 in Fairford, England. Getty Images
A senior US official also alleged that Iran backed the plot to attack the bombers, telling the Journal the crew had been recruited by the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iranian officials have repeatedly denied their involvement with the plot, calling the accusations “fabricated speculations.”
“The Circulation of such fabricated speculations […] will serve no purpose other than to fuel Iranophobia propaganda in the UK,” the Iranian embassy in the UK said in a statement.
British authorities bafflingly let the five suspects go Monday after they posted bail, saying they would continue to investigate the incident.