US military officials have reportedly evacuated aircraft from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk in response to a threat from Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal. The threat level of an attack at the base has also been raised to Charlie, the third-highest level, meaning officials believe an attack is likely.
Redeployment at Suffolk bases
The nature of the threat remains unclear, as a US Air Force spokesperson did not confirm details of the redeployment. A similar move has additionally reportedly taken place at RAF Lakenheath, also in Suffolk.
“We’ve addressed it by moving people away from the threat,” American secretary of state Marco Rubio is said to have replied when asked about the concerns.
Trump declares war 'militarily over'
The development comes hours after President Donald Trump claimed the war in Iran was “militarily over”. In an unplanned press conference, he said: “Iran militarily is effectively over. We’re just keeping it the status quo.”
Trump, however, gave no hint of a drawdown of the thousands of US troops who have been shifted to the waters off Iran and maintain a naval blockade to stem the flow of Iranian oil into the global market. “We’re keeping it going. We have the greatest military blockade ever,” Trump added.
Nuclear program and political context
He claimed Iran has been “decapitated” but said he is still looking to make sure there’s a long-term solution to ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program is defanged. It was some of Trump’s most definitive comments about moving away from his threat to resume strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections had passed.
The President’s Republican Party lost both chambers of Congress to Democrats in last week’s elections. The elections were shadowed by dissatisfaction among the American electorate over the eight-month-old war, which has led to a surge in fuel prices that’s impacted nearly every sector of the global economy.
