Two men rearrested on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service in RAF Fairford incident

By Nic Robertson, Billy Stockwell, Max Saltman, CNN

London (CNN) — British counterterrorism police said Tuesday they have rearrested two men in their investigation into last month’s incident at RAF Fairford in England, where US B-1 bombers were based.

A 24-year-old British national and a 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national were rearrested on suspicion of assisting Iran’s foreign intelligence service, police said in a statement.

“So far seven men have been arrested in connection with our investigation,” Laurence Taylor, a senior counterterrorism police officer, said in a statement. “As a result of the ongoing efforts of our officers, earlier today two of those men were re-arrested for offences relating to Section 3 of the National Security Act — assisting a foreign intelligence service.”

“This is very much a live investigation, and our evidence gathering continues, but at this time our position remains the same; we consider it highly likely that there is Iranian state involvement,” Taylor added. The other five men are currently out on bail. Police have not released the names of any of them.

In late September, British authorities announced the initial arrest of five men “on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act” and explosives offenses near RAF Fairford, a British air base long used by the US Air Force. Army bomb disposal units and police officers swarmed the area and evacuated civilian homes around the base.

Earlier this month, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that the suspected plot targeting RAF Fairford was “almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard.” Iran has firmly rejected the accusations.

US President Donald Trump praised the arrests at the time, telling reporters that the US had worked with Britain and that the men arrested were planning to do “big damage” to RAF Fairford.

“We had them under view for a long time, and we got them,” Trump said. US intelligence had tracked planning by Iranian groups to target US assets at the base weeks ahead of any arrests, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Residents around RAF Fairford also may have tipped authorities off. One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told CNN that she had called police after seeing three vans surrounded by eight to 10 masked men blocking her driveway.

In an interview with Sky News, British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting thanked the woman for making the emergency call. He mentioned that she had only a “partial picture” and offered no further details.

Developments at the base did not end there. Days after the initial arrests, the US moved all of its long-range bombers from RAF Fairford following an unspecified threat, a knowledgeable source said.

At the time, Trump and Vice President JD Vance hinted that a threat against US assets had prompted the move.

“I think we can say that — I mean, they didn’t fly out by accident,” Trump said. “There were some threats, and rather than tempting the enemy, we’ll capture the enemy and beat the enemy. But why should we leave them there? So we moved them around a little bit.”

Vance said the move was made “out of an abundance of caution,” suggesting it was a response to a potential threat from Iran even as he declined to detail the specific concerns.

As of Tuesday, none of the US bombers had returned to Fairford.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Zachary Cohen and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.