CIA 'warned of drone attack on air base'? No proof, but X posts keep spreading it

A post is circulating on X claiming that the US intelligence agency CIA received information about an attack with small drones on RAF Fairford air base in England, allegedly planned by Iran. The post was written by the user @2021m2021, who signs as "Sergij". They offer no proof for the claim.

We are not making this claim. We are only saying what is spreading, and comparing it with what the reports say.

What is verified: over the weekend the US withdrew all 12 B-1B bombers from Fairford in south-west England. The Pentagon confirmed they returned to their home bases in the US. According to American and British media, commanders received new warnings of a possible drone attack, allegedly ordered by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the government believes Iran played a role. Iran denies involvement.

In London, police detained five men aged 23 to 25, then a sixth, a British-Iranian dual national. All were released pending further investigation, and no one has been charged. According to CNN, no explosives were found in three vans near the base. According to the New York Times, officials compared the plan with Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb in 2025, when drones were launched from trucks near Russian air bases.

What is circulating but not confirmed: that the warning came from the CIA. DroneXL writes that in mid-September commanders received a serious warning from "American and other Western intelligence agencies". It does not say which agencies, and does not mention the CIA. NBC does not mention the CIA either, only unnamed American officials. The CIA may be among those agencies, but none of the reports we reviewed publicly says so.

The Israeli version of events differs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel passed information about the Iranian attack to the British. Megan Sutcliffe, an analyst at the firm Sibylline, told The National she assessed that Israel probably gave a general tip that the Iranians were preparing something, which British services then checked.

One more thing: Fairford is a British base used by the US Air Force. None of the reports we reviewed mentions any attack on an Israeli air base, so the story of a "CIA attack on an Israeli Air Force base" has no support in the sources. As far as is known, there was no drone attack on Fairford. There was a warning, arrests and the withdrawal of bombers.