U.

U.S. pulled all 12 B-1 bombers out of RAF Fairford in the UK over the weekend after commanders received new warnings of an Iran-backed plot against the base.
- The move was unusually fast for a peacetime allied base far from a combat zone. Some aircraft and their flight crews left while aerial refueling aircraft were still being scrambled to support their flights to the U.S.
- At least three had landed in South Dakota by Sunday.
- EUCOM confirmed the redeployment but would not discuss the warnings.
- A branch of the IRGC had recruited UK nationals to carry out the plot, which involved multiple steps including a diversion in the neighborhood nearby, according to a senior US official.
- One source described the new information as part of threat reporting that began about three weeks ago, but that details and urgency spiked in the previous 24 hours.
- In September, U.S. and other Western intelligence warned commanders that Fairford was the target of a potential Iran-backed attack, pieced together from intercepts, informants, and other reporting.
- Israeli intelligence also warned Britain of a probable Iranian-sponsored attack, without naming a specific target; confidential assessments warned of likely follow-up drone attacks.
- A senior U.S. official said Israel separately warned Germany that U.S. bases there, especially Spangdahlem and Ramstein, were at heightened risk.
- An Iran-backed plot against a U.S. bomber base on British soil, and warnings that other American bases in Europe, including in Germany, could be next, is a major escalation by Iran, carrying the war beyond the Middle East and onto the territory of NATO allies.