British prosecutors said on Tuesday they had charged two British nationals under the National Security Act over an incident last month at Royal Air Force Fairford Air Base, where police said they were suspected of supporting Iran.
The RAF Fairford, used by US B-1 bombers to carry out attacks on Iran, was withdrawn for security reasons shortly after five men were arrested outside a military base in southwest England in the early hours of September 27.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced on Tuesday that it had charged Mohamed Abdulkarim, 24, with engaging in conduct likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service.
Nouman Esgil, 24, was charged on August 22 with entering a restricted place with a purpose prejudicial to the United Kingdom. Both men, who live in London, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Tuesday.
Five other people arrested in connection with the incident remain on police bail.
Assistant Commissioner Lawrence Taylor, head of Britain’s National Counter-Terrorism Police, said police believed Iran was the country Mr Abdulkarim was supporting.
“We have seen a range of incidents in recent months that appear to have been directed by the Iranian state, and as the head of Mi5 (the UK’s internal security agency) said just last week, we are working together to intervene, identify and respond to that threat,” Taylor added.
Police initially arrested five men on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act and explosives offenses near Fairford Air Force Base, which has been used by the U.S. Air Force for many years. The men have since been released on bail, but Mr Taylor acknowledged on Tuesday that it “raised significant questions and speculation about the investigation and its reasons”.
“While we are aware that decisions taken during investigations may appear illogical to outsiders, we would like to be clear that there is always good reason or rationale behind them,” he added. “Like our adversaries, our tactics are diverse and not always obvious.”
Mr Taylor said the decision to initially release the men “led to faster progress and better evidence, which ultimately led to securing charges.”
Earlier this month, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the alleged plot targeting Air Force Fairford was “almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.” Iran categorically rejected this accusation.
US President Donald Trump praised the men’s arrest at the time, telling reporters that the US was cooperating with Britain and that the arrested men were planning to cause “significant damage” to Fairford Air Force Base.
“We’ve been watching it for a long time, and we’ve figured it out,” Trump said. Sources said U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking plans by Iranian groups to target U.S. assets at the base in the weeks prior to the arrest.
Days after the first arrest, the United States removed all long-range bombers from Fairford Air Force Base following unspecified threats, a source said.
At the time, President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance implied that threats to U.S. assets prompted the move.
“I think you can say that. I mean, they didn’t take off by chance,” Trump said. “There were some threats. Instead of luring the enemy, you capture the enemy and defeat the enemy. But why leave them there? So we moved them around a little bit.”
Vance said the move was taken “out of an abundance of caution” and suggested it was in response to a potential threat from Iran, although he did not elaborate on specific concerns.
