According to U.S. and British officials, 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from R.A.F. Fairford air base were withdrawn because of the risk of a drone attack ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A police roadblock near the R.A.F. Fairford air base. Prime Minister Andy Burnham of Britain said on Wednesday that there were “strong indications that Iran played a part” in the previous weekend’s events there.
Iran has been launching drones and missiles at commercial ships in the waterway each week, though it has often failed to strike its targets, according to a Western security official.
The prospect of an attack on an air base used by U.S. forces prompted stepped-up protections across Europe, but confusion shrouds the case, in which the suspects were released on bail.
A police officer at a roadblock near R.A.F. Fairford air base, possibly the target of an attack plot, in Fairford, Gloucestershire, England, on Tuesday.
The British counterterrorism police said the five British nationals arrested near R.A.F. Fairford on Sunday were being released on bail but remained under investigation.
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