President Donald Trump said Monday that a threat linked to Iran prompted the United States to pull its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in Britain, warning Tehran would “suffer greatly” over any combat drone plot as reports revealed fears of an IRGC-ordered attack targeting the strategic aircraft and American personnel. The United States abruptly evacuated roughly a dozen B-1s from Fairford on Sunday amid urgent concerns about a “potentially complex drone attack” ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. and European officials briefed on the threat.
The drone attack was allegedly one piece of a broader, multifaceted Iranian plot to destroy aircraft at the base and kill personnel, including American pilots, officials told the outlet. U.S. military officials in Europe had also been warned in late September about the possibility of a vehicle-borne explosive attack. Axios separately reported, citing U.S. officials, that intelligence pointed to a possible Iranian drone attack launched from British soil, posing a threat to both U.S. personnel and the strategic bombers. Trump confirmed Monday that a threat was behind the decision to move the aircraft, telling reporters on the White House South Lawn that the B-1s “didn’t fly out by accident.”
