In brief

• The US military moved aircraft out of RAF Mildenhall in England on Monday over a threat linked to Iran.
• Two US refuelling tankers were diverted to Germany early in the day, with more aircraft moved later.
• The move follows the withdrawal of US bombers from RAF Fairford after a suspected Iran-linked security incident.

Tankers relocated from RAF Mildenhall

Two US refuelling tankers based at RAF Mildenhall were diverted to Germany early on Monday. Later in the day, several more aircraft at the base were flown to Germany and other locations (Obawy o Iran. Amerykanie ewakuowali samoloty – RMF24) (US reportedly evacuated aircraft from RAF Mildenhall over Iran threat – The Guardian). The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, first reported the evacuation (USA ewakuowały samoloty z brytyjskiej bazy. Tajemnicze zagrożenie ze strony Iranu – Onet).

Threat remains unclear

The precise nature of the threat to the base has not been made public. US officials are still assessing whether it represents an immediate risk of attack or a broader strategic warning (USA preventívne stiahli svoje vojenské lietadlá zo základne vo Veľkej Británii pre hrozbu zo strany Iránu – Aktuality.sk) (USA stiahli lietadlá z britskej základne pre hrozbu zo strany Iránu – HNonline.sk). The US has reportedly upgraded security at the site.

Follows Fairford withdrawal

The move comes several weeks after Washington pulled B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in southwest England following a suspected Iran-linked security incident. In September, British police arrested five people near that base. Police also reported arrests of suspects in the case on October 20 (ЗМІ: США евакуювали свої літаки з другої британської бази через загрозу з боку Ірану – Європейська правда).

Response from London

A spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defence said the government does not normally comment on the activities of other countries. He added that aircraft and other assets are regularly moved in line with operational requirements (USA wycofują samoloty z kolejnej bazy w Europie. W tle zagrożenie ze strony Iranu – Bankier.pl).