The suspected terror plot near RAF Fairford has put a possible Iran link back in focus after US secretary of state Marco Rubio said a foreign actor was “clearly” involved, without naming the country or providing evidence. The development comes as British counter-terrorism investigators continue to examine whether the five men arrested near the airbase had links to a foreign state.
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Rubio made the claim after five British men arrested near the US-used airbase were released on police bail and stated that the incident “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor”.
The men, all British nationals in their early 20s from London, remain under investigation and have been placed under stringent conditions governing their movement and contact with others. UK counter-terrorism police have said their release does not mean the investigation is over.
Trump says plot ‘might’ be linked to Iran
US president Donald Trump also weighed in on Monday, saying he would not have released the suspects on bail.
Asked whether the case was linked to Iran, Trump said: “It might.” He declined to elaborate, saying he knew the answer but preferred not to disclose it.
Trump had earlier said the suspects wanted to cause “big damage” and suggested they had been under investigation by British and US authorities. British sources, however, have indicated that while the broader threat environment was known, the specific activities of the five men were not necessarily known.
Iran, however, has strongly denied any involvement in the incident. The Iranian embassy in London “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” what it called “unfounded and malicious speculations” by British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Tehran to the arrest of the five suspects near RAF Fairford.
