MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We have new information about events connected to the British air base used by American bombers near where five men were arrested last week in a suspected terror plot.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
All the U.S. long-range bombers that were at that base were brought home over the weekend because of a threat of a possible attack by Iran.
MARTIN: For the latest, we're joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Greg, good morning.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Michel.
MARTIN: Do we know what kind of threat Iran was posing?
MYRE: Yeah. A U.S. official - who's not authorized to speak publicly - told NPR a credible threat linked to Iran was the reason the U.S. decided to abruptly remove a dozen B-1 bombers from this Royal Air Force base, Fairford, in the southwest part of the country. This threat potentially involved a drone attack. The U.S. planes were flown out Sunday. They've returned to home bases in the U.S. And these are long-range bombers that were part of a larger contingent of U.S. war planes that used this British base in recent months to carry out airstrikes in Iran. The other planes had already left.
MARTIN: And as we mentioned, this all began last week. Are there any updates on that investigation in Britain?
MYRE: Yeah. One more man was arrested Tuesday. He was the seventh to be picked up since this all began on September 27. That's when British police arrested five young men traveling in white vans near the air base in a rural area in the middle of the night. Now, no weapons were found in the vans, and a few days after that, a sixth man was detained, but they've all been released on bail, and no one has been charged at this point.
Now, President Trump and Britain's prime minister, Andy Burnham, have both said there's a possible link to Iran, but they haven't provided details. Iran, for its part, has denied any involvement.
MARTIN: So it sounds like there's still a lot that we want to know. But have we seen anything similar in the past?
MYRE: You know, Michel, last year, Ukraine smuggled drones into Russia. It hid them inside small mobile homes on the back of trucks that parked near several Russian air bases with long-range bombers. And then by remote control, Ukraine launched the drones that hit the Russians' planes. Twenty to 40 of them were damaged or destroyed. This was a significant portion of Russia's long-range bomber fleet, and this attack certainly grabbed the attention of the U.S., which realized U.S. planes could also be vulnerable to a similar surprise attack.
MARTIN: So are U.S. military bases at home and abroad now considered more vulnerable than in the past?
MYRE: Absolutely, yes. The war with Iran has driven this home in multiple ways. Iranian drones and missiles have hit U.S. bases throughout the Middle East. Perhaps the most serious attack was on the very large U.S. naval base in Bahrain. And so for the past three decades, the U.S. has built many bases in the region. The idea was to provide some level of protections for U.S. allies there.
MARTIN: So is the U.S. rethinking this arrangement?
MYRE: Yeah, absolutely. The drone threat has really flipped the thinking in many ways. The U.S. has a constellation of military bases that all have to be defended, and this is very complicated and expensive. You know, this discussion was already taking place about the possible future arrangement for U.S. bases in the Middle East. And now we're learning that U.S. planes operating in Britain were facing some sort of threat as well. And just a quick reminder - the U.S. has hundreds of military bases outside the U.S. Now all of them have to worry about drone attacks.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Greg Myre. Greg, thank you.
MYRE: Sure thing, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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