WSJ: IRGC-ordered drone attack forced the U.S. to withdraw B-1 bombers from the British base — the plot also aimed to kill American pilots

The United States urgently moved a dozen B-1 bombers on Sunday from the British military base RAF Fairford because of urgent concerns about a potentially complex drone attack ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as The Wall Street Journal reports, citing U.S. and European officials briefed on the matter.

According to the newspaper, the planned attack was part of a multi-pronged Iranian plot to target the aircraft and to kill personnel at RAF Fairford, including American pilots. A branch of the IRGC had recruited British nationals to carry out the plot, which involved multiple steps, including a pre-planned distraction in the neighbourhood surrounding the base.

Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that the aircraft were moved “out of an abundance of caution in an effort to protect our people”, expressing concern about the threat posed by Iran, but without commenting on the specific details of the planned attack. “We think with some certainty that the Iranians are trying to do what the Iranian state has done for 49 years, which is to engage in acts of terrorism against the United States and against many other people as well”, he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing for Alaska.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that people linked to Iran posed a threat to the assets at the base. “We had an idea there might be a threat, why would I leave them there?”, he told reporters. The Pentagon declined to comment on the planned attack, but confirmed that all U.S. bombers deployed at the base have now returned to the U.S. A spokesman for the British government said on Monday that its military bases are secure and declined to comment on decisions taken by the U.S.

RAF Fairford, around 145 kilometres west of London, had become a key hub for launching American strikes against Iran, after the U.S. had received permission to use the base to strike Iranian missile targets that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Last week, British authorities arrested six suspects in connection with a suspected attack on the base — five Londoners aged 23–25 and a dual British-Iranian national — who were later released on bail, while the investigation continues. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there are “strong indications” that Iran played a role in the incident, accusations that Tehran has rejected as “fabricated speculation”.