Two men rearrested in RAF Fairford inquiry as police assess possible Iranian involvement
Counter Terrorism Policing says the men are suspected of assisting a foreign intelligence service after a September incident near the Gloucestershire airbase.
Counter Terrorism Policing rearrested two men on 20 October in its investigation into a suspected incident near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Police said they were suspected of assisting a foreign intelligence service and identified Iran as the country concerned. The arrests bring renewed attention to an incident near a base used by US aircraft, but the alleged roles of the men and the extent of any Iranian involvement remain under investigation.
The men, aged 24 and 25, were rearrested under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023, according to the Mirror. The younger man is a UK national; the older man has UK and Iranian nationality. Both are from the London borough of Westminster. They had previously been arrested and released on bail pending further investigation, the Associated Press reported.
What police say about Iranian involvement
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, said investigators consider Iranian state involvement ‘highly likely’. He said they were still examining what that involvement amounted to and the ambition behind the September incident. His assessment does not establish the men’s guilt or determine what role, if any, the Iranian state played.
Taylor said seven men had been arrested in the investigation, including the two rearrested on Tuesday. The other five remain on police bail, the Mirror reported. Taylor described the inquiry as live and said evidence gathering was continuing. Police would share more when they were in a position to do so, he said.
How the RAF Fairford investigation began
The incident under investigation took place close to RAF Fairford on 27 September. The Mirror reported that three suspicious vans were stopped near the airbase that day. Officers found no explosive materials but seized a quantity of petrol. The 24-year-old was first arrested near the base on 27 September; the 25-year-old was first arrested in Westminster on 1 October.
RAF Fairford has been used by US bombers during the war with Iran, the Associated Press reported. The Mirror said US bombers were removed from the base after the incident, although the reason for their removal was unclear. The latest rearrests follow earlier questions about the suspected incident near the base and the evidence for an Iranian link.
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Sources and context
- UK rearrests duo on suspicion of aiding Iran in alleged plot at US-run airbaseSouth China Morning Post (Associated Press report)
- Major RAF Fairford 'terror plot' update as two men re-arrestedThe Mirror (Tim Hanlon; Reach Plc)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.