Two men re-arrested on suspicion of assisting Iran in RAF Fairford investigation
Counter Terrorism Policing has re-arrested a 24-year-old British national and a 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023 in the investigation into the 27 September incident near RAF Fairford; the other five men arrested remain on bail.
British police have re-arrested two men on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service as part of the investigation into the security incident near RAF Fairford on 27 September.
Counter Terrorism Policing said on Tuesday that the men — a 24-year-old British national first arrested near the Gloucestershire airbase on 27 September, and a 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national first arrested in Westminster, London, on 1 October — were detained under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023, which covers assisting a foreign intelligence service. Both men are from the borough of Westminster. All seven people arrested in the investigation had been released on bail; the other five remain on bail, and no one has been charged. (Reuters via The Jerusalem Post; Gulf News)
“This is very much a live investigation, and our evidence gathering continues,” Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, said, adding that police consider it “highly likely that there is Iranian state involvement.”
The investigation began when armed police swooped on three vans near the base, scores of residents were evacuated, and officers recovered petrol from the vehicles — though no improvised explosive devices were found. (The Sun) The United States has since withdrawn its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the activity was likely coordinated in Iran — a claim Tehran denies.
Follow the story on our RAF Fairford hub.
More on this topic: all UK Broadband stories
