UK-Iranian man arrested in London in connection to air base incident

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

A 27-year-old dual British-Iranian national was arrested Thursday on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, British police said. The man was detained in connection with Sunday’s events near an air base in England that is used by the U.S. military.

The man was arrested in central London, and police said they had searched two properties in the area.

Counterterrorism police also questioned another man, a 26-year-old British national, authorities said in a statement. Neither man was named, in line with British policing rules.

“The investigation into circumstances surrounding events in Gloucestershire is hugely complex, and our specialist teams are interrogating multiple lines of enquiry,” said Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing.

The arrests come just days after police arrested five men who had been traveling early Sunday in white vans near the air base, called RAF Fairford, which has been used by American bombers in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. The men were released on bail a day later after authorities did not discover explosives in the vans.

But police have repeatedly said the men remain under investigation. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said this week that the British government believes Iran played a part in planning the events that unfolded Sunday.

Iran has denied the accusations. Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, wrote on social media Wednesday: “I can confirm Iran’s belief that releasing supposed terrorists working for foreign states really says it all. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

The incident near the air base began at 12:45 a.m. Sunday when one of the men in the vans called 999, the local emergency number. Authorities have not said why he called, but they quickly stopped the vans and arrested the man and four associates. All five were British nationals from London in their early 20s, police said.

The events rattled residents of the small villages around the air base, which is about 90 miles west of London. After the men were arrested, police evacuated about 85 families from nearby homes while a bomb disposal robot searched the vehicles.

When the men were released on bail Monday afternoon, officials said that the investigation was not over and that the men would be monitored closely. They also hinted that they were looking for other people who might have been involved.

“Be assured, we are considering this from every possible angle,” Laurence Taylor, the head of National Counter Terrorism Policing in Britain, said in a statement. “Including, that this may be activity committed by proxies, or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state.”

RAF Fairford is a popular destination for aviation enthusiasts looking to catch a glimpse of the military aircraft that take off and land at the base.

In the weeks after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran, long-range American bombers began coming and going from the base. The movement of the aircraft is visible on open-source databases that track the movement of planes.

In July, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned that the base was a “legitimate target,” citing the decision by the British government to give the United States permission to conduct so-called defensive strikes against Iran.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that the incident Sunday “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor.” He did not identify what country he believed was behind the events but did mention Iran as a country that had “openly threatened” to attack U.S. interests.