The precise nature of the threat to RAF Mildenhall remains under discussion among US officials
The US military evacuated aircraft from a second airbase in Britain on Monday after a threat from Iran, weeks after a suspected Iran-linked security incident at the RAF Fairford airbase led to the withdrawal of US bombers.
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Two US refuelling tankers that were using the RAF Mildenhall military base diverted to Germany early on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, several other tankers at the base were moved to Germany and other locations later in the day, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the Journal, the precise nature of the threat to RAF Mildenhall remains under discussion among US officials.
“We do not routinely on the activity of other nations. Aircraft and other assets move regularly according to operational requirements,” a British Ministry of Defence spokesperson said.
The US upgraded the security posture at RAF Mildenhall and another UK base, RAF Lakenheath, to FPCON Charlie, the second-highest defensive threat level, the WSJ report said, citing a US official familiar with the matter.
Force Protection Condition (FPCON) Charlie occurs when intelligence indicates that a form of terrorist action is likely.
Asked the situation at RAF Mildenhall, British education minister Lucy Powell told the BBC she could not on "ongoing operation matters".
"We take the security and safety of our bases incredibly seriously, and we will always act on security intelligence when we need to," she said.
The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for sent outside regular business hours.
The Fairford incident, which remains largely unexplained, attracted huge international attention, coming at a time of heightened concern the security implications for Western states of the war between the United States and Iran.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last month that the activity at RAF Fairford was likely to have been coordinated in Iran.
While Tehran's ambassador to Britain has denied accusations that it was involved in any plot against the airbase, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in July that the Fairford base and any other base used to launch attacks against Iran were legitimate targets.
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