FAIRFORD, UK – JULY 25: A Royal Air Force Fairford B1 bomber on July 25, 2026 in Fairford, England. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)
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Britain has announced that it has charged a man with aiding and abetting “foreign intelligence” over an incident at a military base used by the United States to attack Iran.
Mohammed Abdulkarim, 24, has been charged under the National Security Act “following an incident involving Fairford Air Force Base in western England,” prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The Crown Prosecution Service added that between August 31 and September 28, Abdulkarim is suspected of engaging in “conduct likely to materially assist foreign intelligence services in carrying out UK-related activities”. The name of the foreign country was not disclosed.
Prosecutors also charged Nouman Esgil, 24, with “entering a restricted place with intent to cause damage to the United Kingdom.”
The men are scheduled to appear in a London court on Tuesday.
Fairford Air Force’s role in the US attack on Iran
On September 28, five people were arrested near Fairford Air Force Base on suspicion of explosives and terrorist offenses. The base was used as a US Air Force headquarters outpost for operations from Europe and for US attacks on Iranian missile bases.
Announcing the charges, Frank Ferguson, chief prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime and Counter-Terrorism Unit, said they followed a “counter-terrorism police investigation into a high-profile incident involving RAF Fairford”.
“We continue to work closely with our partners as this complex investigation continues,” he said.
After the arrest, US President Donald Trump said the US had removed long-range bombers from the UK in response to an “Iran-related” threat.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told MPs earlier this month that the incident was “likely to have been orchestrated within Iran and almost certainly under the direction of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.”
Over the summer, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that it would consider any military bases involved in airstrikes on Iran to be legitimate targets.
The Iranian government has denied any involvement in the incident at Fairford Air Force Base.
