{"id":630744,"date":"2026-09-29T04:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T04:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/630744\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T04:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T04:54:10","slug":"rubio-says-foreign-actor-was-clearly-behind-suspected-raf-fairford-bomb-plot-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/630744\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio says foreign actor was \u2018clearly\u2019 behind suspected RAF Fairford bomb plot | UK news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said unequivocally that a foreign actor was involved in the suspected UK bomb plot at RAF Fairford, hours after the five suspects arrested close to the airbase were released on bail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cWhat could have happened in the UK over the weekend is a \u200cvery serious situation,\u201d Rubio said in an interview with Fox News on Monday evening, adding that it \u201cclearly involves the hands \u200cof a foreign actor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Rubio provided no evidence for his claims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The five men, all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2026\/sep\/28\/men-arrested-raf-fairford-counter-terrorism-police\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">British nationals from London in their early 20s<\/a>, were \u2060detained early on Sunday after police \u2060were alerted by a local farmer about three \u200bwhite vans driving towards RAF Fairford, a British base that houses US bombers that fly missions against Iran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">They were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2026\/sep\/27\/major-incident-declared-near-raf-fairford-as-men-arrested-on-suspicion-of-explosives-offences\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">arrested on suspicion of explosives offences<\/a> and preparing an act of terrorism, with an Iranian link a key line of inquiry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Their release on police bail suggests detectives believe it is unlikely they were on the brink of a mass casualty attack by exploding a bomb close to the base, sources said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards said in July the base was a legitimate target. Iran\u2019s embassy in London has denied any involvement in the events near RAF Fairford.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">While thanking the British authorities for their handling of the incident, Rubio also said a lot of people were \u201cdisturbed that some of these people [being investigated] have been released on bail\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Who is behind suspected bomb plot at RAF base? - The Latest\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790657649_536_1920.jpg\" height=\"259\" width=\"460\" class=\"dcr-18dqxt1\"\/>Who is behind suspected bomb plot at RAF base? &#8211; The Latest<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Earlier in the day, Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that he would not have released the suspects on bail. \u201cWe know everything about them. We would not have released them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Asked whether the case was linked to Iran, Trump said: \u201cIt might be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Pressed to give details, Trump said: \u201cI\u2019d rather not. I mean I know the answer, I could be very specific, but I\u2019d rather not say. I would not have released them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Trump has previously suggested the plot was known to the US authorities, but British sources suggested the specific activities of the men were unknown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The head of UK counter-terrorism policing, the assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor, said the release of the men on bail did not mean the investigation was over and that they were subject to \u201cstringent conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">He said: \u201cI know there is significant interest in whether the current geopolitical context has a bearing on this incident. At counter-terrorism policing we are working within this context every day, and at this stage we are keeping an open mind in this investigation.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Emergency teams deploy bomb disposal robot at RAF Fairford air base\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Emergency_teams_deploy_bomb_disposal_robot_at_RAF_Fairford_air_base--22c86427-35b7-4f60-91ae-8e864b7.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" class=\"dcr-11wzo8p\"\/>Emergency teams deploy bomb disposal robot at RAF Fairford air base<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201c\u2026 But be assured, we are considering this from every possible angle. Including, that this may be activity committed by proxies, or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">An initial examination of the vans led police to suspect they carried explosive materials, with assessments made as to whether they were viable improvised explosive devices. After the suspects\u2019 release it emerged that no explosive material had been found.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Iran is suspected of using proxies in the UK, in incidents ranging from alleged arson attacks against Jewish targets to men flying a basic drone near the Israeli embassy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said unequivocally that a foreign actor was involved in the suspected&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-630744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}