Why this mattersSo why RAF Fairford?
It's a US-operated airbase in Gloucestershire. And it's been used to launch strikes on Iran.
That's the base at the centre of all this.
Five men were arrested outside RAF Fairford in the early hours of 27 September. Two of them are the men charged today, Mohmed Abdulkarim and Nouman Essghir.
Nouman Essghir was arrested at the scene that night, then re-arrested on 20 October.
A 25-year-old dual UK and Iranian national was also re-arrested that day, on suspicion of aiding Iran's intelligence service. He's since been released without charge. But he's still on police bail.
Five other men are on police bail too. So that's eight men arrested across this investigation. And now two of them charged.
Here's the part worth knowing. Shortly after the September arrests, the United States pulled its B-1B Lancer bombers out of RAF Fairford. On security grounds. As of today, they still haven't come back.
That's not a small precaution. Those bombers are part of America's long-range fleet, based in Britain to stay close to the Middle East. Pulling them out means Washington judged the base wasn't safe to keep them on.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the House of Commons earlier this month that Iran's Revolutionary Guards were almost certainly behind the activity at RAF Fairford.
That's the Prime Minister naming Iran's own military, not just the Iranian state, as the likely force behind it.
Iran's ambassador to Britain has denied the allegations.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor leads national Counter Terrorism Policing. He says quote "we believe have been directed by the Iranian state".
So that's the police saying this isn't a one-off. They think it's a pattern.
And here's why that matters. Iran has said before that it sees any base used to strike its territory as a legitimate target. So this case isn't only about two men in a London court. It's about whether a British airbase hosting American bombers is now a target for a foreign state.
The case is still active. Counter Terrorism Policing says its evidence gathering continues, and that Iranian state involvement is highly likely. But that's their assessment. Not a finding of any court.
So three questions sit over today's hearing. Will Mohmed Abdulkarim and Nouman Essghir be released on bail, or remanded? Will the five other men still on bail face charges too? And do the American bombers ever come back to RAF Fairford?
Right now, two men are walking into a London courtroom. And an American bomber base in the English countryside is still sitting empty.
