A Pentagon official confirmed Sunday that all US bombers deployed to RAF Fairford in southwest England have returned to their home stations in the United States. The official said operational security had prevented the military from confirming the movements in real time.
Police were called to the base on September 27 after a local farmer reported a group of men with several vans engaged in “suspicious” activity. The scare forced the evacuation of 85 homes near the airbase, which the US used to launch strikes on Iran.
Counter-terrorism police said investigators found no explosives in the vans, only “a quantity of petrol.”
Six London-based Britons, all men in their mid-20s and including a UK-Iranian dual national, were arrested and later released on bail, a decision that drew rebuke from Washington.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications that Iran played a part.” Tehran rejected the charge.
