2 men rearrested in UK on suspicion of assisting Iran over suspected plot at a US-run air base

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

Scores of residents were evacuated from their homes near the base as armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swarmed the rural area. Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant — gasoline — in three vans at the site, but no explosives.

Election Results

RDNO Area C's new Director looking to address water supply issues

1h ago

Election Results

Former Armstrong Mayor re-elected, hoping to reinstate confidence in council

2h ago

Youth Leadership

Youth learn conflict resolution skills at What Happens Upstream conference

21h ago

British authorities have linked Tehran to the incident, which led the U.S. to pull its bombers from RAF Fairford. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the apparent plot was “almost certainly” directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, or IRGC.

Iran has denied involvement, although it has previously said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.

Five other men in their 20s were arrested earlier then released on bail pending further investigation. No one has yet been charged.

Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing in the U.K., said detectives are looking at “many lines of enquiry involved in this hugely complex investigation.”

“This is very much a live investigation, and our evidence gathering continues, but at this time our position remains the same; we consider it highly likely that there is Iranian state involvement,” he said in a statement.

“Our investigators are continuing to examine what that level of involvement was and the ambition behind it,” he added.

Last week the head of Britain’s MI5 spy agency warned that both Iran and Russia were expanding their attacks against the U.K., and that the RAF base incident was not unique.

Ken McCallum, who leads the U.K.’s domestic security service, said Tehran is seeking to intensify its attacks in Britain beyond the traditional targets of Iranians opposed to the country’s Islamic authorities.

In all, more than 50 people have been arrested over Iran-linked plots in the past year, McCallum said.

Sylvia Hui, The Associated Press