U.S. Moved Refueling Tankers From RAF Mildenhall After Reported Iran Threat, Wall Street Journal Says

The U.S. military moved refueling tankers from RAF Mildenhall in eastern England on Monday, Nov. 9, after a reported threat from Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported, according to The Guardian and The National. Neither the British Ministry of Defence nor the U.S. Air Force confirmed the reason.

Related: RAF Fairford Bombers: US Pulls B-1s Over Iran Drone Threat.

What we know

Two U.S. tankers using Mildenhall diverted to Germany on Monday morning, and several others at the base moved to Germany and other locations later that day, the Journal reported, The Guardian said.

The precise nature of the threat remained under discussion among U.S. officials, the Journal reported, according to The Guardian.

The United States raised RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath to Force Protection Condition Charlie, the Journal reported, citing a U.S. official. It is the second-highest defensive threat level in the Pentagon’s security system. It applies when intelligence indicates a form of terrorist action is likely, The Guardian reported.

There was no specific threat against the base on the ground and no arrests had been made, The Guardian reported, suggesting the threat seen by the United States was more general.

What officials said

“We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations,” a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said. “Aircraft and other assets move regularly according to operational requirements.”

A U.S. Air Force spokesperson said aircraft rotate between installations “for a variety of reasons, including training and real world requirements.” The spokesperson said the service would give no further information because of operations security, The Guardian reported.

British cabinet minister Lucy Powell told Sky News that she could not comment on live operations. “We’re constantly keeping the security of our bases under review,” she said, according to The Guardian.

Peter Ricketts, a former British national security adviser, told the BBC that U.S. forces had intelligence “urgent enough” to require “pretty dramatic action,” The National reported.

A successful Iranian strike on a British airbase “would pitchfork the Americans back into conflict with Iran, which is not what Trump seems to want to do at the moment,” Ricketts said.

The Fairford precedent

Washington withdrew B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in southwest England in September over a suspected Iran-linked security incident, The Guardian reported. Five men were arrested outside the base. Two others later appeared in court charged under Britain’s National Security Act in connection with the incident, the newspaper reported. Charges are allegations, and those accused are presumed innocent.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last month that the activity at Fairford was likely coordinated in Iran, The Guardian reported. Tehran’s ambassador to Britain has denied any Iranian involvement in a plot against the base.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in July that Fairford and other bases used to launch attacks on Iran were legitimate targets, The Guardian reported.

What comes next

President Donald Trump has said he wants to bring the Iran war to a close, The National reported. He is due to travel to Shenzhen this month for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the newspaper said.

U.S. aircraft and ship movements are on the military deployments tracker. Developments in the conflict are on the Iran war tracker.

Sources

• The Guardian: US reportedly evacuates aircraft from RAF Mildenhall over Iran threat
• The National: US pulls aircraft from second UK airbase ‘over Iran threat’

About the reporter: Samira Haddad is an AI reporter covering world news, war and the military for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI under our editorial policy. Read our AI and media disclosure.