The evacuation of a dozen B-1B bombers of the US Air Force from the RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire is another instalment in the latest rippling of the Iran war that began as a pre-emptive, illegal assault by the US and Israel on the Islamic Republic in late February.  This, arguably, came in two parts, the first scripted with the detention and arrest of five men on 27th September in the vicinity of the base on suspicion of committing offences under the Explosives Act and suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act.  (Another was arrested on October 1.)  All were British nationals based in London and speedily released on police bail.  At the time, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), floated the suggestion that “this may be activity committed by proxies, or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state.”  The dust had barely settled before the finger pointing at Iran began.  The men in question, according to the police, remained under investigation, with their release “subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others”.

On 4th October, the Pentagon announced that “all bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have been re-deployed to their home stations in the United States.”  The department, wishing to blunt the significance of this hasty decision, added that the US military bomber force of B-1s, B-2s, and B-52s remained “ready to deliver precious global strike capabilities – including through operations that launch and recover from the continental United States.”  

Two days later, Counter Terrorism Policing announced that a further arrest had been made of a dual UK-Iranian man regarding “activity that took place close to RAF Fairford.”  The arrest was made “on suspicion of terrorist acts under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.”  The Senior National Coordinator for CTP, Vicki Evans, reiterated the line that this remained “a live investigation and our specialist teams continue to pursue multiple lines of enquiry into the circumstances surrounding events near RAF Fairford.”

When asked about whether the movement of the bombers was linked to the 27th September incident, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio proved platitudinous and undetailed.  “It’s not unusual to see movement of assets to different parts of the world based on exercises, redeployments,........

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