UK police rearrested two men on Tuesday on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service over a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, the U.S.-run air base in England, last month, according to Counter Terrorism Policing.
The two men are a 24-year-old British national and a 25-year-old dual U.K.-Iranian national, according to PBS NewsHour headlines. They were arrested under the National Security Act. Al Jazeera reports that one suspect was first arrested on Sept. 27, when the suspected plot took place, and the second was first arrested on Oct. 1. Both men had been on bail until Tuesday.
Police found a quantity of accelerant, gasoline (petrol), in three vans at the site, according to PBS NewsHour, but no explosives. Scores of residents were evacuated, and armed police and bomb-disposal experts swarmed the area. Al Jazeera reports that a major incident was declared after a member of the public reported three suspicious vans. The other outlets do not confirm this detail.
Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said it is "highly likely that there is Iranian state involvement," according to Al Jazeera. He said investigators are examining the level of involvement and the ambition behind the apparent plot.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the plot was "almost certainly" directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), according to The Hindu. The Hindu is the only source reporting this attribution in detail. The other outlets refer to the British authorities’ link to Tehran without quoting Burnham.
Al Jazeera reports that five other men in their 20s were arrested earlier and released on bail. No one has been charged.
MI5 head Ken McCallum said more than 50 people have been arrested over Iran-linked plots in the past year, according to The Hindu. He warned that Iran and Russia were expanding attacks against the U.K., and that the RAF Fairford incident was not unique.
Iran’s response, as reported, is limited to a denial. No fuller statement from Tehran is included in the reporting. No response from the two rearrested men or their lawyers has been reported.
The reports differ on the date of the rearrests. The Hindu gives the publication date as Oct. 21, 2026, and labels the arrests as Tuesday (October 21). Later in the same report, it says the men were on bail until Tuesday (October 20). PBS NewsHour and Al Jazeera say only "Tuesday" and give no date.
The sources do not say what the suspected plot aimed to do or what the vans were intended for. No timeline for charging decisions has been given.
Investigators continue to examine the level of Iranian state involvement and its ambition. The two men remain under investigation, and no one has been charged.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.