Incident at US air base in UK involved foreign state, Rubio says

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the alleged thwarted attack on a U.S. air base in the United Kingdom “clearly” involved a foreign state.

Rubio, during an appearance on Fox News’s “Hannity,” said the Sunday arrests of five men suspected of planning an attack on Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford in England were “very serious.”

“It’s one that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor,” he told host Sean Hannity. “I won’t get into great detail about that yet.”

British authorities arrested five men on explosives and terror charges near the air base in Gloucestershire, England. All five men are British nationals in their 20s.

Authorities detained the men after a local farmer called police over three suspicious vehicles near the base late Saturday night. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters the white vans did not contain viable explosives.

President Trump has said the federal government worked with the U.K . in arresting the suspects, telling reporters Sunday the men were “under view for a long time.”

Officials released the men on bail Monday, a move Trump took issue with.

“I’m surprised that they released them. I wouldn’t have done that,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.

American B-52 and B-1 bombers have taken off from RAF Fairford as part of the U.S. military campaign against Iran . The air base in southern England is owned by the U.K. and operated by American forces.

Iran’s embassy in the U.K. denied involvement in the incident, saying in a Monday statement it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” regarding the Islamic Republic’s potential role.

The Iranian regime has repeatedly threatened countries that aid the U.S. in the war and has attacked American bases throughout the Middle East during the seven-month conflict.

Rubio added Monday that the incident near RAF Fairford “ties us to the reality” of threats against the U.S.

“We are dealing with elements in the world, and in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally,” he told Hannity.

The secretary of State added, “We’re going to always take that very seriously, there will be repercussions for that if it ever were to happen or even attempted.”