The US has withdrawn its bombers stationed at a US-run military air base in England used to strike Iran, as police investigate whether a suspected terror plot at the base is linked to Iran.
All the men have been released on bail. It remains unclear why they were released on bail a day after their arrests. Police have not explained why he was also released on bail on Saturday.
Five men were detained shortly after midnight on Sept. The UK-owned base has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including the ongoing Iran war. A sixth suspect, a British-Iranian dual national, was arrested several days later. The developments have led to confusion about what exactly happened at the air base. British authorities have linked the incident to Tehran. Iran has denied involvement. Here’s what we know — and don’t know — about the security incident. A sixth suspect, a British-Iranian dual national, was arrested in central London last week on suspicion of plotting a terror attack. But he did not provide details about what the suspects were planning, or why the UK thinks Iran was involved. Iran and allied militant groups have been accused of plotting or carrying out attacks on US, British and Jewish targets in the past, allegedly acting through local proxies. RAF Fairford houses the headquarters of the US Air Force’s 501st Combat Support Wing and is a forward operating location for the US Air Force Global Strike Command. “Driving three vans up to an air base with a perimeter doesn’t strike me as a particularly clever way to cause significant damage. It remains unclear when security services became aware of the alleged plot or whether any security lapses allowed the suspects to get so close to the base.
27 on suspected explosives and terrorism offences after three suspicious vans were spotted travelling toward RAF Fairford. The base was used during the 1990 Gulf War, the 2003 Iraq war and the US-Israeli bombardment of Iran this year.
Police earlier said they did not find any explosives in the vans that sparked the security alert. Police said the first five suspects, detained near Fairford, are British nationals from London in their 20s. Laurence Taylor, the head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said they face stringent bail conditions and “absolutely remain under investigation. The decision drew criticism from US President Donald Trump, who said he was surprised and “wouldn’t have” allowed the suspects to be freed. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the UK sees “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident. Taylor, the head of counterterrorism policing, said last week that lines of inquiry include looking into whether the suspected offenses were committed by “proxies or individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state. Iran has previously said it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target. Nigel Inkster, a senior adviser at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who formerly worked at the British Secret Intelligence Service, said Iran is known to have hired “low grade,” untrained proxies to commit crimes in the UK on its behalf. But it’s not clear “what sort of threat these people posed,” he said. “Was it a homegrown undertaking or one that was sponsored internationally, especially Iran?” he said. Iran’s embassy to the UK condemned what it said were “unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets” linking it to the suspected plot. Trump earlier praised the British response and suggested that US and UK intelligence services had kept the suspects “under view for a long time.”
Meanwhile US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed any link between the bombers’ departure and the police investigation. A farmer who called police said she saw about eight to 10 men, some with their faces covered, run away when they spotted her car. “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.
Some residents told British media they had noticed increased security near Fairford in recent weeks, suggesting authorities may have anticipated an incident. British police, however, said the arrests were triggered by a late-night report of suspicious vehicles near the base. She said several hours passed between her call and the moment police “suddenly decided to evacuate” nearby residents. On Monday, Burnham told reporters that RAF Fairford was “safe” after a Pentagon official said bombers stationed there had been redeployed to their home bases in the United States. Trump told reporters on Monday that he didn’t want to tempt “the enemy” by having the bombers there. “We had a threat, and if we’re going to be threatened, we would just move them, and that sort of alleviates that,” he said in Washington. He said that the people who made the threat “would be linked to Iran,” but he didn’t offer details. US Vice President JD Vance said the Air Force removed the bombers “out of an abundance of caution. So, we are being extremely cautious,” he said. “It’s not unusual to see rotations happen and moving into the different parts of the world based on exercises,” he said.
