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The U.S. military evacuated aircraft from a second airbase in Britain on Monday after a threat from Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Two U.S. refueling tankers that were using RAF Mildenhall diverted to Germany earlier in the morning, while several other tankers at the base were moved to Germany and other locations later in the day.
The precise nature of the threat to RAF Mildenhall remains under discussion among U.S. officials, according to the Journal. U.S. Air Force officials described the movement as a routine aircraft rotation.
Open-source flight tracking showed several KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft departing Mildenhall for Spangdahlem in Germany and Prestwick in Scotland, while CV-22B Osprey aircraft moved to RAF Lakenheath, according to DefenceGeek, which monitors military aircraft movements through publicly available flight information. Security was strengthened at both Mildenhall and Lakenheath on November 9.
The move comes weeks after a suspected Iran-linked security incident at RAF Fairford led the U.S. to withdraw its B-1 bombers from that base. Five British men were arrested outside Fairford in September, and two others were arrested later on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence; one was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last month the activity at Fairford was likely to have been coordinated in Iran, which Tehran's ambassador to Britain has denied. Fairford had been used by U.S. bombers to carry out strikes on Iran.
RAF Mildenhall hosts the 100th Air Refueling Wing, which operates KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft. RAF Lakenheath operates F-15E Strike Eagle and F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft.
The movements come as U.S. military refueling aircraft continue traveling toward the Middle East while President Donald Trump considers renewed military strikes against Iran. U.S. and British authorities have not confirmed whether the heightened security measures, the aircraft relocations and the earlier incidents at Fairford are connected.
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