ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - All five men arrested near the UK’s RAF Fairford airbase have been released on police bail, UK counterterrorism police chief said on Monday, in an incident involving explosives on suspicion of planning acts of terrorism.
British counterterrorism police on Sunday arrested five British nationals in their 20s after three suspicious vans were seen near the airbase, where suspected explosives were later found. A source familiar with the investigation told Reuters that an Iran-linked motive was considered the most likely, while Russian sabotage and an Islamist plot were also being examined.
Residents evacuated from dozens of homes around the base have been allowed to return as British counterterrorism police investigate an incident involving explosives, including possible links to Iran.
“I can confirm that following extensive interviews and inquiries, the five men who were arrested are being released on police bail this afternoon,” UK counterterrorism police chief Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said on Sky News, adding that “this does not mean that the investigation is over. They are subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others. They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of inquiry.”
He said the Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) are considering “every angle,” including the possibility that the incident “may be actively committed by proxies or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state.”
In a statement on Monday on X in response to the Iran-linked claims, the Iranian embassy said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran to the arrest of five suspects in the vicinity of RAF Fairford base.”
The airfield has seen prominent use in past wars, including the US airforce in the US-Iran war that erupted in late February.
