British counter-terror police are investigating a possible link between Iran and a bomb scare at an air base used by the US in southwest England. The incident occurred on Sunday, when authorities were alerted to three suspicious white vans heading towards the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford base in Gloucestershire. Five men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and later under suspicion of preparing a terrorist act.
The men were in custody on Monday as police questioned them. Authorities have not confirmed the details of the threat, which they said was contained on Sunday evening, but bomb disposal experts were seen at work at the scene. A local resident in the village of Whelford, near the air base, reported seeing three white vans blocking a road and a group of masked men overnight on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump provided more information about the incident than UK authorities, saying the UK and US had the suspects under investigation for a while. Trump said the suspects were looking to do big damage to the US fort and that working with the British had worked out great. He later told reporters that the US knew all about the suspects and appeared to nod when asked if there was a connection to Iran.
In March, Britain gave the United States permission to use Fairford air base for specific defensive operations into Iran to destroy Iranian missiles at source. Since then, US bombers and other planes have been seen taking off and landing from the airfield, which is the only one on British mainland used for this purpose. Residents in the rural Cotswolds area surrounding Fairford said the base, which hosts a number of US military equipment and personnel, is usually quiet year-round.
UK media reported that counter-terror police were looking into possible Iranian involvement as a line of inquiry in their probe. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had previously accused then UK prime minister Keir Starmer of putting British lives in danger by allowing the bases to be used for aggression against Iran. UK defence minister Wes Streeting said he did not want to speculate at this stage of the investigation.
Around 85 households were evacuated from the village early on Sunday and had to stay elsewhere overnight as a police cordon remained in place around Whelford on Monday. A local resident told the BBC that police had dropped the ball on the threat, but Streeting implied that police were aware of the situation before they were alerted. The UK interior ministry has previously accused Iran and Russia of using proxies to carry out criminal activities on their behalf on UK territory.
The investigation is ongoing, with police working to determine the origin of the threat. The incident has raised concerns about the security of the air base and the potential for Iranian involvement in terrorist activities in the UK. The UK and US have been working together to address the threat, with Trump saying that they had caught the suspects and would be hearing more about it soon.
Key points
- UK police are investigating a possible link between Iran and a bomb scare at a US air base in England.
- Five men were arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act.
- The incident has raised concerns about the security of the air base and potential Iranian involvement in terrorist activities in the UK.
