The United States withdrew all of its strategic bombers stationed at the air base of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) in Fairford Gloucestershire, sending the aircraft back to their home stations on US soil this weekend.
The military measure It was carried out in response to security concerns and ongoing counterterrorism investigations after an alleged plot to attack the facility was detected.
US defense authorities maintained operational reserves during the withdrawal until the planes completed their transfer to North America.
“While operational security prevented us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real time, we can now recognize that all U.S. bombers that were deployed to Fairford Air Base have returned to their home bases in the United States. USA“the Pentagon stated in a statement cited by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Revelations about the plot and Iran’s involvement
He WSJ revealed this Sunday that US officials were aware of a plan attributed to Iran aimed at attacking the bombers and murder the personnel stationed at the British base.
According to information from this medium, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps recruited British citizens to execute a multi-phase operational scheme, which included a diversionary maneuver in the vicinity of the facilities.
At the same time, the british prime ministerAndy Burnham has pointed out the existence of solid evidence about Tehran’s participation in the events.
For its part, the Iranian government formally denied any type of connection with the incident investigated in Fairford.
However, that country’s military leadership had previously expressed warnings about the use of bases in the United Kingdom for combat actions in the Middle East.
“Any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces,” warned the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Police investigations in the United Kingdom
The police operation began on September 27 after three suspicious vans with fuel were detected near the military compoundwhich led to the initial arrest of five men with British nationality.
The arrests occurred after one of those involved called the police services to notify them of the plot.
Days later, authorities arrested a sixth suspect with dual British and Iranian nationality in London on charges of preparing terrorist acts.
The British justice system granted bail to the six detainees, a decision described by the police as an investigative strategy.
The release on bail of those involved provoked the reaction of the president of USA Donald Trump who said: “We know everything about them, we wouldn’t have released them.”
