US aircraft evacuated from British base amid Iranian threat
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Sowetan
The Wall Street Journal reports that the US military evacuated aircraft from the RAF Mildenhall air base in Britain on Monday after an Iranian threat. Two tankers were diverted to Germany, according to the newspaper citing people familiar with the matter; the British Ministry of Defence is not commenting on the movements.
US forces evacuated aircraft from the RAF Mildenhall air base in Britain on Monday after an Iranian threat, according to the Wall Street Journal, cited by Reuters. Two refuelling aircraft operating from the base were diverted to Germany in the morning, and several other aircraft were moved to Germany and elsewhere during the day.
The precise nature of the threat remains under discussion among US officials, according to the same newspaper. This is the second British base that Washington has emptied of its aircraft: the United States had already withdrawn its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford, in south-west England, for security reasons. Five men were arrested there in September after a security incident, and two others were later detained on suspicion of having helped Iranian intelligence.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last month that the activity at Fairford had probably been coordinated from Iran, which Tehran’s ambassador in London has denied. The British Ministry of Defence says it does not comment on the activity of other countries, and states that aircraft move regularly according to operational needs.
