{"id":614846,"date":"2026-09-29T01:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T01:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/614846\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T01:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T01:02:14","slug":"suspects-in-alleged-uk-air-base-terror-plot-bailed-as-police-probe-iran-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/614846\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspects in alleged UK air base terror plot bailed as police probe Iran link"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five young British men arrested on explosives and terror charges near a US-operated air force base in England were released on bail, and counterterror detectives said they were investigating \u201cmultiple lines of inquiry\u201d, including whether there is a link to Iran.<\/p>\n

The men were detained early Sunday (local time) after three vans were spotted in the countryside near RAF Fairford<\/a>, a UK-owned base that has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Investigators haven’t concluded whether the incident was state-backed. They are investigating a possible link to Iran, Russia or non-state militant groups. RAF Fairford has also been the focus of protests by anti-war campaigners.<\/p>\n

The five suspects, who haven’t been named, were initially held over suspected explosives offences, and later also arrested on suspicion of preparing an act of terrorism. Police said the men are all British nationals from London and in their 20s.<\/p>\n

The head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, said that the suspects face stringent bail conditions and \u201cabsolutely remain under investigation”.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police officers guard a road leading to RAF Fairford, after an incident in Fairford, England (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Taylor said lines of inquiry include that the suspected offences were committed by “proxies or individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state\u201d.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would chair a meeting of the government\u2019s COBRA emergency committee later Monday to discuss developments.<\/p>\n

Iran denied involvement. The Iranian Embassy in London said that it \u201ccategorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations\u201d about the incident.<\/p>\n

Residents were evacuated from 85 homes in the village of Whelford<\/a> near the base on Sunday, and army bomb-disposal experts used a robot to examine three white vans.<\/p>\n

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Monday afternoon that \u201cthanks to the excellent work of the army\u2019s explosive ordnance disposal team\u201d, the scene was now safe and residents could go home.<\/p>\n

The arrests came after reports of suspicious vehicles<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police guard a road leading to RAF Fairford, a US Airbase, after an incident in Fairford, England. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump said the suspects had been detained following cooperation between the US and Britain, and had been \u201cunder view\u201d for some time. Police, however, said the arrests were triggered by a late-night call about \u201csuspicious vehicles\u201d near the base.<\/p>\n

A local farmer said she called police after seeing three oddly parked vans as she drove home late Saturday night, and that nearby she came across \u201ca large group of men\u201d, some with their faces covered. She said they ran off in several directions when they saw her vehicle.<\/p>\n

She declined to be identified to protect her identity because she was describing what she saw as potential security lapses.<\/p>\n

British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the farmer \u201cdid exactly the right thing\u201d by calling police but only had \u201ca partial view\u201d of the operation.<\/p>\n

Streeting declined to give details of the operation, but said that \u201cit was a proud moment\u201d that Trump had recognised \u201cthe work that our police and intelligence services do every day\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs and when we can, we will report back to the public about these individuals and about the nature of the threat,\u201d Streeting told Times Radio.<\/p>\n

The arrests came at a time of heightened tensions around the threat from hostile states, with British intelligence services saying Russia and Iran have both used proxies to commit crimes on UK soil. In March, officials said the number of national security cases involving activity by hostile states, including Iran, increased by 50% in the six months to December 2025.<\/p>\n

Iran has been linked to a series of attacks in Europe<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A B1 USAF bomber on the tarmac at RAF Fairford in Fairford, England (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Britain didn’t join the US and Israel in the Iran war, which began on February 28, and initially denied Trump\u2019s request to use bases in the UK to strike Iran. But then Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed in March to let the US use bases in Britain for what he called \u201cdefensive\u201d operations against Iran\u2019s missiles and their launch sites following Iranian attacks on UK interests and Britain\u2019s allies in the Gulf.<\/p>\n

American B-1 and B-52 bombers have taken off from Fairford, 160 kilometres west of London, for operations during the Iran conflict.<\/p>\n

Iran has said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.<\/p>\n

British security officials say proxies linked to Iran have been behind a string of arson and sabotage attempts in the UK and other countries, many of them targeting the Jewish community. They have previously warned that Tehran could expand its targets in the UK if conflicts in the Middle East continue.<\/p>\n

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Monday that the incident is a \u201creminder of the threats our country faces\u201d.<\/p>\n

Miliband met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the United Nations in New York last week and told him that \u201cBritain will not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on UK soil\u201d, according to a UK readout of the conversation.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the Greens riding high off our latest poll, and Nathan Cleary’s response to a horror injury. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

US Air Force says personnel remain vigilant<\/p>\n

The US Air Force said that its personnel based at RAF Fairford \u201cremain vigilant\u201d, but \u201cfor operational security reasons we will not discuss specific force protection measures\u201d.<\/p>\n

The US Embassy in London has warned Americans in Britain to be cautious and mindful of their personal security.<\/p>\n

Trump said that authorities had the suspects \u201cunder view for a long time and we got them\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an amazing job. We had them under investigation. They were looking to do big damage to our fort. And working with the British worked out great,\u201d he told reporters in Chicago on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Five young British men arrested on explosives and terror charges near a US-operated air force base in England…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[67,42,43,31451,40,38,41,39,1745],"class_list":["post-614846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-terrorism","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}