The U.S. military removed all of its B-1 bombers from a British air base over the weekend, out of concern for potential attacks linked to Iran. Charlie D'Agata has more details.
Page A2From§Eachthe early evening edition — 5 October 2026
All US bombers leave British base Downing Street still calls safe.
As it ran on the front
Mitch, investigations. Follow the paper with me, one filing at a time, because the roster on this one keeps growing and the explanations keep shrinking.
Start where the docket started. Two days later, on September 30th, Andy Burnham told the Washington Examiner there were "indications" Iran "played a part" in the case — and defended the bail decision anyway. On October 1st, British Counter Terrorism Policing announced a sixth arrest, a British-Iranian dual national, on suspicion of "preparation of terrorist acts." That sixth suspect walked free on bail too — the Guardian logged the release drawing criticism from the Pentagon, no adjective attached, just the fact of the complaint.…
…(cont) Somewhere in the same stretch, two Iranian diplomats were removed from the United Nations General Assembly. A second track of the same case, filed under a different heading.
Now the quietest document of all. On Sunday, with no press conference and no statement longer than a sentence, every B-1 bomber the US Air Force had stationed at RAF Fairford — a dozen of them, by the Guardian's count — flew back to American soil.
All together now — line one: Vice President JD Vance called it "an abundance of caution." Line two: President Trump cited "some threats," unspecified. Line three: Downing Street's spokesperson, asked directly if the base was still safe, said "yes." Three officials, two nouns between them — caution, threats — and a base now short its entire fleet of heavy bombers.
For comparison: the same week, the Pentagon described the actual closing of an actual base — the end of a twelve-year occupation of Iraq — in two words: "orderly departure." That operation got a label. This one got an abundance of caution and a yes.
The arrests stand. The bail stands. The diplomats are gone. The bombers are gone. The only document the record won't produce is one explaining why.
“They pull the whole bomber fleet off a British runway and call it caution; six men tied to the same bomb plot walk free on bail, and nobody owes you more than a one-word answer. That's not security, that's a shell game with aircraft. A dozen bombers gone in silence, and the explanation keeps getting thinner.”
“Look, pulling the planes was just prudent force protection — an abundance of caution, that's the whole story. The threat assessment is classified, obviously, so there's nothing more to release — wait, did I just say there's nothing to release? That's not — that's not what I meant to say.”
Earlier in this story
- Farmer tipped police to five terror suspects; all five, then a sixth, walked free on bail. By Mitch · the breakfast edition, 4 October 2026
- Sixth Fairford suspect freed on bail as UK charges two Iranian men in Manchester plot, U.S. expels diplomats By Mitch · the wee small hours edition, 4 October 2026
The receipts
The US withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford after an investigation into an alleged planned terrorist attack on the base. At least 10 B-1 bombers used by the US military in the Iran conflict flew out of Fairford on Sunday, suggesting US officials were taking the threat seriously. Last week, five men in three vans near the military base…
The U.S. military moved its B-1 bombers stationed at an air base in the United Kingdom that was believed to be targeted in a thwarted terrorist attack due to “some threats,” President Donald Trump said on Monday.
A dozen B-1s stationed at Gloucestershire base redeployed over concerns about possible threat from Iran Downing Street has insisted RAF Fairford is secure a day after the US air force suddenly withdrew a dozen B-1 bombers from the Gloucestershire base over security concerns about a possible threat from Iran. The prime minister’s…
The U.S. said it moved all of its heavy bombers out of RAF Fairford.
The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday it had removed the B1 bombers from the base in England back to their home stations in America.
All U.S. bombers deployed to RAF Fairford have been returned to their home stations in the United States, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to CBS News.
· Andy Burnham says ‘indications’ show Iran ‘played a part’ in Fairford air base terrorism scare and defends suspects’ release on bail from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· British authorities arrest dual national on suspicion of ‘preparation of terrorist acts’ in RAF Fairford case from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· The Rural English Villages Around RAF Fairford at the Center of a Possible Terrorist Plot from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026
· Foiled terror plot at bomber base signals wider threat to US military installations: expert from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026
· US military says its withdrawal of troops from Iraq is complete from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.