Informative · RAF Fairford

America just accused a foreign state of plotting to bomb Britain's base for hitting Iran

2 days ago · 29 September 2026Share

The 422nd Communications Squadron poses in front of a B-52 Stratofortress at RAF Fairford, England, March 19, 2019. File photo. — U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jennifer Zima · Public domain

Five British men got arrested near RAF Fairford. That's the US bomber base in England used to launch strikes on Iran.

And then America's top diplomat said a foreign state was behind it.

So here's what happened. Two days ago, in the early hours, a local farmer called police at about 12.45am. He'd seen three suspicious vans and a group of hooded men near the base, in Whelford, Gloucestershire.

The men are all British nationals from London. All in their twenties, aged 23 to 25.

Police arrested them on suspicion of explosives offences. That got upgraded to terrorism offences. They were photographed masked and stripped at the scene. Barrels of material were found inside the vans.

But here's the twist. Separate unnamed sources said no viable explosives were found.

All five were released on bail earlier today. Strict conditions on where they can go and who they can talk to.

So what were they actually doing there? Nobody in authority has answered that yet.

Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, went further than anyone in Britain has. Speaking on Fox News' Hannity, he said quote "the hands of a foreign actor were involved". He didn't name the country.

That's the top US diplomat saying, on American television, that a state was behind an attack planned on British soil. Before Britain's own police have said anything close to that.

Donald Trump, the US President, said he thought the men might be connected to Iran. He said he wouldn't have granted them bail. He said the arrests stopped big damage, and that the men had been under investigation for a long time.

UK Counter Terrorism Policing is being far more careful. Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, who leads the unit, said quote "this does not mean the investigation is over".

Officers are looking at whether proxies or individuals carried this out for a foreign state, knowingly or unknowingly. Investigators are checking possible links to Iran, Russia or non-state militant groups. They haven't concluded this was state-backed at all.

So there's a wide gap. Washington is saying one thing. London won't confirm it.

The rest of this story is for members.

And there's a reason RAF Fairford draws this kind of suspicion. It's a US bomber base. B-1 and B-52 aircraft have flown strikes on Iran from its runways since the war between the US, Israel and Iran started at the end of February. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said in July that any base used to attack Iranian territory, Fairford included, is a legitimate target.

Britain didn't join that war when it started. At first it even refused to let the US use its bases at all. Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister at the time, changed that in March, letting the US fly defensive strikes from UK soil. Andy Burnham kept the policy after taking office, and approved it again in July.

Iran's embassy in London says it categorically rejects and strongly condemns any attempt to link it to the arrests.

Andy Burnham chaired an emergency COBRA meeting earlier today, to get the full picture. He hasn't made any public statement of his own on what happened or who might be behind it.

Wes Streeting, the Defence Secretary, played down how the alert began. He said the farmer who called police only had a partial picture of the situation. But the police response itself wasn't intelligence-led at all, according to a source close to the investigation. It came from that 999 call, not a tip-off. Security at the base had already been increased beforehand, though.

The US embassy in London told American citizens to be mindful of personal security. Security was stepped up at other US-linked bases in Britain too, including RAF Lakenheath.

Villagers evacuated from Whelford earlier this week were allowed back into their homes today. A cordon still sits around the three vans.

So nobody has named the five men. Nobody has named the country Rubio meant. And nobody has explained what was in the vans, if it wasn't explosives.

Britain's most senior counter-terrorism officers are only saying one thing for certain. The investigation is not over.

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America just accused a foreign state of plotting to bomb Britain's base for hitting Iran

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