Police Re-arrest Two Men in RAF Fairford Iran Probe

Two men have been re-arrested by UK counterterrorism police on suspicion of assisting an Iranian foreign intelligence service following suspicious vehicle activity near RAF Fairford, a US airbase in Gloucestershire, in September. The suspects, a 24-year-old British national and a 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national, are being investigated under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023.

According to Counter Terrorism Policing, the investigation concerns possible Iranian state involvement in the incident near the military installation. The arrests announced on October 20 bring the total number of men arrested in connection with the case to seven.

Gloucestershire Police received a report at 00:45 BST on September 27 about three suspicious vehicles traveling toward RAF Fairford. Authorities subsequently declared a major incident and evacuated dozens of homes while specialists examined vehicles near the base.

Investigators found petrol in three vans, prompting the initial arrests of five men on suspicion of offenses under the Explosives Act. They were subsequently arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. Police later confirmed that no improvised explosive devices had been found.

The two men re-arrested on October 20 had previously been detained on September 27 near RAF Fairford and October 1 in Westminster, London, respectively. The remaining five suspects, including a 22-year-old British national arrested in Westminster on October 6, remain on police bail, according to reports from the BBC and Sky News.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, said investigators had not changed their assessment of potential Iranian involvement.

"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. Our investigators are continuing to examine what that level of involvement was and the ambition behind it." Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said.

Taylor said the complexity and sensitivity of national security investigations could make progress slower. He also emphasized that investigators were pursuing multiple lines of inquiry and intended to provide further information when possible.

"Our specialist teams have been working tirelessly to interrogate the many lines of enquiry involved in this hugely complex investigation," Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said.

The case has drawn attention to wider concerns about alleged Iranian-linked operations in the United Kingdom. A separate investigation in early October led to charges against two Iranian nationals in connection with an alleged plot targeting Jewish institutions in Manchester. Authorities said the suspects had been in contact with an individual believed to be in Iran.

In a separate analysis published by The Conversation on October 19, researchers described a history of alleged Iranian operations abroad involving intelligence officers, diplomatic networks, allied organizations and criminal intermediaries. The analysis cited the 1992 killings of four Iranian opposition figures at a Berlin restaurant and the 2021 conviction in Belgium of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi over his role in a planned bombing of an Iranian opposition gathering in France in 2018.

The analysis also discussed cases involving Iranian dissidents killed in the Netherlands and Turkey, where criminal networks were implicated and investigators or intelligence agencies identified possible Iranian links. These historical cases provide context for current concerns, but they do not establish responsibility for the RAF Fairford incident.

US officials previously told NBC that American bombers had been withdrawn from RAF Fairford earlier in October, partly because of a reported threat of a possible Iranian drone attack. President Donald Trump later told reporters outside the White House that threats had prompted the removal of US aircraft, including B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers.

The investigation into the September incident remains active, with police continuing to examine the suspects' alleged roles and the extent of any foreign intelligence involvement.