Rubio declines to link bomber removal to Fairford incident
The US secretary of state said Washington regularly reallocates military resources as six people arrested in connection with the incident were released on bail.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would not directly link the removal of B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford to last week’s incident near the British base. Speaking to reporters in Reykjavik, he said the Department of War was “constantly reallocating resources where they need to be”.
Rubio expressed confidence in the security of US bases and praised cooperation from UK authorities. The bombers have returned to the US; they had been used for strikes on Iran.
Five British men arrested near Fairford on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts have been released on bail. A sixth man, a dual UK-Iranian national arrested separately in London, has also been released on bail.
The Al Jazeera report does not establish why the bombers were removed or whether the move was connected to a specific threat. It also does not detail the incident or the basis for the arrests.
A NATO military source said Iran was still believed to pose an acute threat to US assets in the UK. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had described Fairford as a legitimate target, while Tehran denied links to last week’s incident.
