US Air Force Responds to Suspected Drone Activity at British Base Amid Wider Iran Concerns

US Air Force personnel stationed at RAF Lakenheath in Britain responded to what officials described as suspected unauthorized drone activity on Friday evening, a US Air Force spokesperson said. No personnel, aircraft or infrastructure were affected by the incident.

"We continue to work closely with our host nation counterparts to ensure the safety and security of our US service members, US and host nation civilians, contractors, and all of our families," the spokesperson said in an email.

Britain's Ministry of Defense confirmed that US Air Force Security Forces personnel had responded to reports of unauthorized drone activity and said the situation had been resolved.

"We are working closely with them to establish the facts. We will provide updates in due course," a ministry spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The incident comes against a backdrop of heightened security concerns around US military assets in Britain. In recent weeks, the United States moved bombers that had been used to strike Iran out of the country and relocated large refueling aircraft from Britain to Germany. A news report later said there had been a threat from Iran.

The bombers departed RAF Fairford on security grounds after a group of men approached the base in white vans in the middle of the night on September 27. Two men were charged last month in connection with that incident, with prosecutors alleging that one of them had tried to assist Iranian intelligence in Britain.

Separately, the US Justice Department said this week that a member of an Iran-backed militia had plotted to attack the Fairford air base while detained in the United States on criminal charges. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the refueling aircraft were moved because of a threat from Iran.

Britain's domestic spy chief said in October that Iran had stepped up attempts to hit harder targets, such as military sites, in Britain. Tehran has rejected accusations of involvement in the Fairford incident and denied other allegations of malign activity in Britain, where authorities have for years accused it of involvement in plots and attempted assassinations against dissidents and Israeli and Jewish targets.

Elsewhere in Europe, Germany has blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in August. Airport workers found a drone laden with explosives and a detonator at the airport, an important civilian freight and NATO logistics hub in eastern Germany that also serves as a base for several giant Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo planes.