UK police re-arrest two men on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence

Police in the United Kingdom have re-arrested two men on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service after an incident at a United States-run airbase in England last month.

Counter Terrorism Policing in the UK said the men, a 24-year-old British national and a 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national, were arrested under the National Security Act.

One of the suspects was first arrested on September 27, when the suspected plot against RAF Fairford took place. The airbase in Gloucestershire in western England has been used to launch strikes on Iran during this year’s war.

The second suspect was first arrested on October 1. Until Tuesday, the men had been released on bail pending more investigation.

Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing in the UK, said the investigation was “hugely complex” and that detectives were looking at “many lines of enquiry”.

“This is very much a live investigation,” Taylor said in a statement, adding: “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,” he added.

British police declared a major incident in the area around RAF Fairford after a member of the public reported seeing three “suspicious” vans driving near the base.

Residents were forced to leave their homes as armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swarmed the rural area.

Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant – petrol – in three vans at the site, but no explosives.

The incident prompted the US to pull its bombers out of RAF Fairford, while British authorities blamed Iran.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the apparent plot was “almost certainly” directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Ken McCallum, the UK’s domestic intelligence spy chief, warned that Iran and Russia were expanding attacks against military bases in the UK, adding that the RAF Fairford incident was not unique.

In all, more than 50 people have been arrested over Iran-linked plots in the past year, McCallum said.

Iran has denied involvement, although it has previously said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.

Five other men in their 20s were arrested earlier then released on bail pending further investigation. No one has yet been charged.