An attempted attack on RAF Fairford in Britain, which is used by the U.S. Air Force and from which American bombers took off for strikes on Iran, was foiled after one of the suspects called police himself, Britain’s Daily Mail reported Tuesday. It remains unclear why the suspect called the emergency services, and investigators are examining whether he wanted to back out of the alleged plot or whether the call itself was part of the plan.
After the call was made to the 999 emergency number, armed police rushed to the scene in Gloucestershire and arrested the suspects. Officers removed their clothing over concerns they could be wearing suicide vests. No such devices were found, and suspected explosive materials in the suspects’ vans were found to be unusable.
British media initially reported that a farmer returning from a party encountered the suspicious vehicles near the base early Sunday, became concerned and called 999. The Daily Mail later reported that the masked men the farmer described were apparently armed police officers who had arrived at the scene.
Counterterrorism chief Laurence Taylor earlier told reporters that the police response that morning had been based on a range of information.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham convened a COBRA meeting, the British government’s emergency response committee, on Monday afternoon and urged the public not to speculate while authorities worked to establish the full facts.
One line of inquiry is whether the incident, which has been linked to Iran, was not in fact a foiled terrorist attack but rather an intelligence-gathering operation, an exercise or a kind of “calling card” intended to send a message to British and U.S. authorities.
Counterterrorism police said earlier that the vans found near the base did not contain explosives but fuel.
RAF Fairford
(Photo: Reuters)
British police raised further questions about the incident Monday when they announced that all five suspects who had been arrested had been released on bail. Police said the men were suspected of planning a terrorist attack, but their release has prompted significant questions about the case.
All five are British citizens from London, ages 23 to 25. Taylor said investigators were keeping an “open mind” about whether there was a “geopolitical” motive behind the alleged plot, amid reports that investigators were examining whether Iran had sent the five suspects to attack RAF Fairford.
The base is used by the U.S. Air Force and, during the war, American bombers took off from there to carry out strikes in Iran.
Iran has denied involvement in the incident. In a statement, the Iranian Embassy in London said the Islamic Republic “completely rejects and strongly condemns the malicious and baseless speculation” surrounding the arrests near the base, adding that such speculation would only “fuel Iranophobia in Britain.”
British police had declared a “major incident” in the village of Whelford, near RAF Fairford, and hours later it emerged that five men had been arrested there on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack.
Three vans were found in their possession and bomb disposal experts were called in because of materials initially believed to be explosives. Photos taken by a local resident showed the suspects lying shirtless on a sidewalk with their hands cuffed behind their backs as British security forces searched them.
(Photo: Reuters/Toby Shepheard)
Bomb disposal experts use a robot to inspect the vans where explosives were initially believed to have been found
It later emerged that the suspects had been arrested only about 320 meters, or 350 yards, from the base. British media reported Tuesday night that security forces were examining the possibility that Iran had sent them to carry out an attack after Tehran threatened in July to target bases such as Fairford if U.S. aircraft continued taking off from them to bomb Iranian territory.
During the latest war, Britain initially prevented the United States from using British bases to carry out strikes on Iran. Then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer later allowed U.S. forces to launch strikes on the Islamic Republic from those bases, targeting missile sites, particularly those used to launch Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.