LONDON — There are strong indications Tehran played a part in a security incident outside a British air base that U.S. forces use to facilitate strikes on Iran, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday. Burnham said he had chaired an emergency security meeting this week after the incident, which unfolded in the early hours of Sunday. Five men, all British nationals, were arrested on suspicion of terror and explosives offenses and were released on bail earlier this week.
The British Parliament is in recess, but Burnham said he “wouldn’t hesitate” to recall lawmakers “should that be necessary.” Iran has denied any involvement in the incident. So far, no charges have been filed against the men, all in their 20s and from London, who were arrested after three vehicles were seen moving toward RAF Fairford, a British air force station about 90 minutes west of London. Counterterrorism police later took over the case after a major incident was declared and dozens of homes were evacuated, disrupting life in the normally quiet, rural community of the Cotswolds.
Residents were allowed to return home Monday. In an update Tuesday, the head of counterterrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, said no explosives had been found in three vans belonging to the suspects, although “a quantity of petrol” had been recovered. In the United Kingdom, police can usually hold people for up to 24 hours before they have to charge or release them, although officers can apply to extend that time if they suspect a serious crime has been committed.
Suspects arrested under the Terrorism Act can be held without charge for up to 14 days. Tuesday’s update came after President Donald Trump told reporters he was disappointed about the decision to free the men on bail. Yeah, we were involved in it.” “They put them out on bail.
I assume they have, they have them watched closely. But these were serious people, seriously bad people, and they should not have done that,” he added. Burnham said Wednesday that the men were released with the “strictest possible bail conditions,” telling the BBC: “The authorities have this under the strongest grip and closest control, and I can assure you of that.” Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the incident “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor” — an allegation British officials had not confirmed until Burnham’s comments Wednesday.
Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, gave permission for the United States to use its bases for “specific and limited defensive” operations against Iran. Earlier this year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told the semiofficial Tasnim news agency that “any base used to facilitate aggression against Iranian territory is considered a legitimate target,” specifically citing bomber flights taking off from Fairford.
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