UK Prosecutors Charge Two Men After RAF Fairford Incident

Two men have been charged under Britain's National Security Act following a September incident at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, southwestern England, where US military aircraft have operated during strikes on Iran. The Crown Prosecution Service announced the charges on October 27, 2026, and the defendants are scheduled to appear in court later Tuesday. Mohmed Abdulkarim, a 24-year-old British-Iranian dual national, faces a charge of assisting Iran's intelligence service.

Nouman Essghir, also 24 and a British citizen, is charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the United Kingdom, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. Essghir was arrested outside the airbase on September 27. Armed police officers and military bomb-disposal specialists searched the surrounding area, while dozens of residents were evacuated from their homes as authorities investigated possible explosives.

Abdulkarim was arrested during the week preceding the October 27 announcement. Six other men have also been arrested and released on bail as the investigation continues, according to the source report.

Shortly after the incident, US B-1 bombers were withdrawn from RAF Fairford. The base had been used by American bombers to conduct strikes on Iran earlier in 2026. Laurence Taylor, assistant commissioner and head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said investigators believed Iran was the country whose intelligence service Abdulkarim had allegedly assisted.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the previous week that the activity at RAF Fairford was likely to have been coordinated in Iran. Iran's ambassador to the United Kingdom denied that assertion, according to the source report. The investigation comes amid wider British concerns about alleged Iranian-backed threats. The UK government said last year that authorities had identified 20 credible threats backed by Iran to kill or kidnap individuals based in the country.

In July, Britain also exercised new powers to prohibit support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), a group linked to the organization. HAYI had claimed responsibility for seven attacks earlier in 2026 at locations associated with Jewish and Israeli communities and Persian-language media.