The United States moved all of its long-range bombers stationed in the United Kingdom back to their American home bases on Sunday after an unspecified new threat, according to a US official. It comes days after the British government arrested a number of individuals in connection with an alleged Iranian plot to target the UK airbase where the planes had been stationed.

 We can acknowledge now that all US bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the United States,  the official told CNN. The statement did not include details on why the planes were moved.

RELATED STORY |  About Two Weeks': New project takes aim at Trump's shifting Iran war timeline

The source familiar called the latest threat a  real world incident.  It is unusual that the US military would move the bombers back to their home stations instead of deploying them to another base in the region, the official said.

Vice President JD Vance said Monday that the move was made  out of an abundance of caution,  suggesting it was a response to a potential threat from Iran even as he declined to detail the specific concerns.

 I think that we're going to be as careful as we possibly can be,  Vance told reporters.  We do feel with some confidence that the Iranians are, you know, they're trying to do what the Iranian state has done for 49 years, which is engage in acts of terrorism against the United States and against a lot of other people as well. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, downplayed the removal of the US bombers, saying he would not  directly tie  the planes' redeployment to the alleged Iranian plot.

 The only reason why you guys are focused on how many planes are at Fairford is because of the threat that happened last week. But it's not unusual to see rotations happen and movement of assets to different parts of the world based on exercises, redeployments, people changing out and new people coming in, new planes coming in, old planes going out,  Rubio told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Monday.

Rubio added that the United States had worked closely

#wxyz   #CrimeInTheD ®