Five British men arrested near RAF Fairford, a base in Gloucestershire, western England, that hosts US Air Force bombers, have been released on police bail. The decision has drawn public concern from senior US officials, while UK authorities say the investigation is far from over.
The men, all in their 20s and from London, were arrested on Sunday morning on suspicion of explosives offences and preparing an act of terrorism. Police were alerted by a farmer driving home from a party, who said she saw people she believed were wearing balaclavas near the village of Whelford, about two miles from the base. She said they ran away when her headlights lit them up. Officers found three vans with suspicious material in the back, and initial assessments considered whether it could be viable improvised explosive devices. After the men were bailed on Monday, it emerged that no explosive material had been found.
Laurence Taylor, head of UK counter-terrorism policing, said bail did not mean the inquiry had ended and that the men were subject to "stringent conditions". Sources told the Guardian that bail suggests detectives think it unlikely the group was on the brink of a mass-casualty attack. Police have not established a motive, and are examining a possible Iranian link, including whether any of the men were paid to gather near the base.
In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Fox News that the episode "clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor", though he offered no evidence and said some matters could not be discussed publicly. He pointed to Iran, which he said had openly threatened American interests globally, but also described UK authorities as "very cooperative". President Donald Trump said he would not have released the suspects, claiming "we know everything about them". Asked about an Iran connection, he said: "It might be." British sources suggested the men's specific activities had not been known beforehand. Iran's embassy in London strongly rejected any link to the arrests.
Fairford has been used by the US in its bombing campaign against Iran, and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in July that any bases used to attack it, including Fairford, were "legitimate targets". A security expert interviewed by France 24 said the case fits into a very intense pattern seen over the past two months. The Guardian's security analysis notes, however, that while Iranian propagandists make heavy threats against British bases online, Tehran's actual capability is mixed.
Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell, speaking at her party's conference in Liverpool, declined to discuss a live investigation. Bail decisions, she said, are operational matters for police, not ministers, and she trusted their judgment. The exchange highlights the political sensitivity of a case that involves the UK-US security relationship and a wider regional war.