The US military moved several aircraft out of an English air base Monday after receiving a threat from Iran, marking the second such relocation in two months.
The Wall Street Journal did not report whether the threat to RAF Mildenhall, roughly 80 miles northeast of London, was considered imminent or part of a broader warning. Two refueling tankers traveling to the base were diverted to Germany Monday morning, and additional tankers were relocated later that day.
House and Senate leaders from both parties, along with the heads of the intelligence committees in each chamber — collectively known as the “Gang of Eight” — were briefed Monday on Iranian threats to US interests, according to the Journal. The briefing came as Congress returned to Washington following the midterm elections.
The latest move came after the US military withdrew 12 B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford, about 90 miles west of London, in early October. That decision followed the discovery of a drone attack plan allegedly organized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. It also came after authorities disrupted an alleged terror plot involving a van packed with explosives near the base and arrested five suspects.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” that the Iranian government had been involved in the bomb plot. Vice President JD Vance said the bombers were removed from Fairford as a precaution.
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“We had an idea that there might be a threat,” President Trump told reporters on Oct. 5. “So why would I leave them there?”
In an Oct. 23 memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warned that Iran “has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel. The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries.”
Asked about Clayton’s memo by reporters in Paris on Monday, Rubio said the administration had responded “by moving people away from the threat.”
At the White House, Trump said he did not believe restarting strikes against Iran “seems to be a very necessary thing,” pointing to ongoing negotiations with Tehran. He also cited the preference of Middle Eastern partners, including Saudi Arabia, to continue blockading Iranian trade instead of returning to a full-scale conflict.
“Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East,” the president wrote on Truth Social, “the United States of America is ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to go.”