U.S. reportedly raises threat level at three UK bases after Fairford arrests

Streeting rejects farmer’s claim base security left residents exposed

The U.S. Defense Department has reportedly raised the terrorism threat level for its operations at RAF Fairford and two other bases it shares with the British military — RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall — to the highest and second highest levels, respectively. The U.S. Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing is based at Lakenheath in Suffolk, while Mildenhall, also in Suffolk, is mainly used by U.S. refueling tanker aircraft. A U.S. Air Force spokesman told the Eastern Daily Press that USAF personnel based at RAF Fairford “remain vigilant” but that “for operational security reasons we will not discuss specific force protection measures.”

The U.S. Embassy in London issued a security alert for U.S. citizens in the Gloucestershire area, saying it was aware British authorities had made arrests on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act near Fairford. The alert urged U.S. citizens to “exercise caution and be mindful of personal security” and reminded them that the terrorism threat level in the country remained “severe.”

UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting rejected a claim by a villager who alerted authorities to the suspects that authorities had left residents exposed to danger by being “hyper-focused and vigilant” on protecting the base at the expense of their security. The unnamed woman, a local farmer, expressed shock that it had been left to her to raise the alarm over hooded and masked men operating close to residents asleep in their homes in the village of Whelford, about half a mile from the base. Streeting said the farmer did not have the full picture.

At least 85 residents of Whelford were evacuated, and a 440-yard safety cordon remains in place around three vans believed to have been used by the men. Counter-terrorism police said the five men, initially detained near the base about 80 miles northwest of London in the early hours of Sunday after armed police responded to a report about three suspicious vehicles apparently headed toward the base, were further arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act, contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act. Materials recovered from the vans are being examined, which investigators believe are improvised explosive devices.

Streeting declined to comment on any possible Iranian involvement, telling the BBC he was not “drawing a connection with Iran” but adding that “we know Iran and their proxies wish to do us harm. We know they hate our democracy.” His remarks came in response to a question over whether the government had taken sufficient account of the risks posed by permitting the U.S. military to use bases in the United Kingdom for operations related to its war with Iran.

Former UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer approved “defensive” U.S. missions from U.K. bases in March, after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. His decision cleared the way for what the UK government described as “specific defensive operations” by the U.S. military.

RAF Fairford hosts a reinforced 2-mile runway that can accommodate B-1, B-2, and B-52 heavy bombers that have been used in strikes on Iran. The U.S. Air Force has used the base to strike Iranian targets, though it is not clear which bomber types have been deployed in the current conflict.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps referenced the use of RAF Fairford by U.S. bomber aircraft in July, issuing a general threat that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces.”