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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has dismissed suggestions that the withdrawal of American long-range bombers from the UK's RAF Fairford was linked directly to a security threat, saying the movement of military assets was part of regular rotations and redeployments.
Speaking to reporters on Monday (local time) at Joint Base Andrews ahead of his departure for Iceland, Greece and Portugal, Rubio said the US Department of War was "constantly reallocating resources where they need to be", while also pointing to routine rotations. "The Department of War is constantly reallocating resources where they need to be. There are regular rotations that happen as well," Rubio said. When asked whether there was a threat, Rubio said the US had documented what happened the previous week, referring to the alleged Iranian plot targeting the UK airbase, but cautioned against directly linking it to the movement of the bombers. "Weve documented what happened last week. I wouldnt directly tie that to the move that was made," Rubio said. "The only reason why you guys are focused on how many planes are at Fairford is because of the threat that happened last week, but its not unusual to see rotations happen and movement of assets to different parts of the world based on exercises, redeployments, people changing out and new people coming in, new planes coming in, old planes going out," he added. The remarks came after the United States moved all long-range bombers deployed at RAF Fairford back to their home stations in the US following an unspecified new threat, according to CNN, citing a US official. The development came amid an ongoing investigation into an alleged Iranian plot targeting the UK airbase. The US official told CNN, "We can acknowledge now that all U.S. bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have redeployed to their home stations in the United States." The official did not provide details about the nature of the threat or explain why the aircraft were moved. A source familiar with the matter described the latest threat as a "real world incident", according to CNN. The source also said it was unusual for the US military to return the bombers to their home stations rather than deploy them to another base in the region. RAF Fairford has been used to deploy US B-1 bombers involved in the war against Iran and serves as an operating location for US Global Strike Command, which is responsible for managing long-distance strikes. The relocation came days after British authorities arrested several individuals in connection with an alleged Iranian plot targeting the airbase where the US aircraft had been stationed. British police arrested five men on September 27 on suspicion of terror and explosives offences near RAF Fairford. The men, identified as British nationals aged between 23 and 25 from the London area, were later released on bail. Police confirmed that no explosives were found in three vans at the scene. A 25-year-old British-Iranian dual national was also arrested on Thursday in connection with the alleged plot. Iran has denied involvement in the incident and described the accusations as baseless. Tehran also summoned the British ambassador in Tehran following the allegations. Asked whether the US continued to have confidence in British security at RAF Fairford, Rubio said Washington had confidence in the security of all its bases. "We have confidence in the security of all of our bases, because all of our bases are theoretically could be threatened at any moment, and thats why theres so much security built around them," Rubio said. "And with the Brits, weve worked very closely for a very long time, including on this investigation, and they couldnt be more cooperative," he added. (ANI)
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