LONDON (AP) — A U.S.-run military air base in England faced Iranian-related threats and the Trump administration believed the intention was to kill as many American troops and destroy as many U.S. planes as possible, a U.S. official said.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, could not speak to the nature of the potential attack. The United States removed its bombers from RAF Fairford, located 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of London, which has been used by American planes to strike Iran during this year’s war.
The new details come as British police on Tuesday arrested a 22-year-old British man in central London on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. He is the seventh person arrested in connection with the suspected plot, which authorities have linked to Iran, but police so far have released few details of their investigation.
Five British men in their 20s were detained near the perimeter of the base in the early hours of Sept. 27, and a 25-year-old British Iranian man was arrested in London on Thursday. All six were released on bail while under investigation.
Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for counterterrorism policing, said detectives “remain committed to investigating all possible angles.”
“We’re acutely aware of the public interest in this investigation, and we are working around the clock, and at pace, to identify the motivation behind events in Gloucestershire," she said.
Scores of residents were evacuated from their homes near the base as armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swooped on the rural area late at night. Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant — gasoline — in three vans linked to the five suspects, but no explosives.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the United Kingdom saw “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident, without saying why or what the nature of the suspected plot was.
Iran has denied involvement, but it has previously said it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.
The U.K.-owned base has been used by American B-1 and B-52 bombers during the Iran war. The British government allowed the U.S. military to use RAF Fairford for what it called defensive strikes on Iranian missiles and their launch sites following Iranian attacks on U.K. interests and Britain’s allies in the Gulf.
The United States moved its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford on Sunday, and the Pentagon said all American bombers at the facility had been redeployed to their home bases in the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he didn’t want to tempt “the enemy” by having the bombers there.
“We had a threat, and if we’re going to be threatened, we would just move them, and that sort of alleviates that,” he said in Washington. He said that the people who made the threat “would be linked to Iran,” but he didn’t offer details.
British officials have declined to comment on reports that the bombers were moved because of fears of a drone attack on the base.
The prime minister's spokesman, Tom Wells, said Monday he was "not going to comment on foreign nations’ military operations.” But he insisted that RAF Fairford is safe.
The mysterious incident near the base came at a time of heightened tensions around the threat from hostile states, with British security services saying Russia and Iran have both used proxies to commit crimes on U.K. soil. British officials have said the number of national security cases involving activity by hostile states, including Iran, increased by 50% in the six months to December 2025.
U.K. officials also say proxies linked to Iran have been behind a string of arsons and other attacks in the U.K. and other countries, many of them targeting the Jewish community and intended to sow fear. They have previously warned that Tehran could expand its targets in the U.K. if conflicts in the Middle East continue.
Lee reported from Athens.
