UK police investigate possible foreign-state role in RAF Fairford plot

London, United Kingdom. British police said on Monday they were investigating whether people acting for a foreign state were involved in an apparent plot to attack RAF Fairford, a British airbase used by the United States. Five suspects arrested in the investigation will be released on bail.

Arrests and investigation

The five men, all British nationals from London in their early 20s, were detained early on Sunday after a local farmer alerted police to three white vans driving towards the base. RAF Fairford houses US bombers that fly missions against Iran. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in July that the base was a legitimate target.

Laurence Taylor, the head of Britain’s counter-terrorism police, said the men had been arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and planning a terrorist act. They will be released on Monday under stringent bail conditions.

“To be very clear, this does not mean that the investigation is over,” Taylor said outside London police headquarters. “They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of enquiry.”

Foreign involvement under scrutiny

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that the incident “might be” connected to Iran. He said he would not have released the suspects on bail: “I wouldn’t have done that.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a foreign actor was involved, but provided no evidence or further details. Speaking on Fox News’s “Hannity” program late on Monday, he called what happened, or could have happened, in the UK over the weekend “a very serious situation” and said it “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor.”

A source familiar with the investigation told Reuters that an Iranian-linked motive was considered the most likely, although investigators were also examining the possibilities of a Russian sabotage operation or an Islamist plot.

Iran’s embassy in London had earlier said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” what it called “unfounded and malicious speculations” about its involvement. The embassy said the claims would fuel “Iranophobia propaganda” in Britain.