UK Police Re-Arrest Two Men on Suspicion of Assisting Iranian Intelligence After RAF Fairford Incident

Since police declared a major incident near RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sept. 27, seven men have been arrested and none charged. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, police added a new element: two of those men were re-arrested on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service.

The two are a 24-year-old British national and a 25-year-old dual UK-Iranian national. Counter Terrorism Policing said both were arrested under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023, and that the investigation relates to Iran.

Who was re-arrested

The 24-year-old was first arrested on Sept. 27 near the base. The 25-year-old was arrested in Westminster on Oct. 1 on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. Both had been on bail pending further investigation until Tuesday.

The other five men remain on bail. They include a 22-year-old British national arrested in Westminster on Oct. 6. Police have not released any of the names.

Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, said: "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." He added that investigators are still examining "what that level of involvement was and the ambition behind it."

What was found

Police received a call at 00:45 BST on Sept. 27 about three suspicious vehicles heading toward the US-run base in Gloucestershire. A major incident was declared, bomb-disposal teams deployed and scores of homes were evacuated.

Officers found petrol in three vans. Police have said they found no improvised explosive devices.

The men were first held on suspicion of Explosives Act offences, then on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. The new arrests shift the suspected offence for two of them to assisting a foreign intelligence service. Police have not said what the suspects allegedly did for Iran.

The Iran link

Prime Minister Andy Burnham first said there were "strong indications" Iran played a part. Earlier this month he said the apparent plot was "almost certainly" directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He has not made public the evidence behind that assessment.

Iran denies involvement. The Iranian Embassy in London said the government "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 incident.

Tehran has also said repeatedly since the war began that any base used to attack Iranian territory is a legitimate target. RAF Fairford has been exactly that kind of base: the US flew B-1 and B-52 bombers from it to the Middle East after the UK approved its use for defensive strikes against Iran.

Trump said the US had worked with Britain on the case. "We had them under view for a long time, and we got them," he said. Multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN that US intelligence had tracked Iranian planning against US assets at the base weeks before the arrests.

Bombers pulled, bail criticized

Days after the incident, the US moved all its bombers out of Fairford. About a dozen B-1s were among them, according to a US official. The Pentagon said the fleet can still strike from the continental United States.

Trump suggested a threat prompted the move: "There were some threats, and rather than tempting the enemy, we'll capture the enemy and beat the enemy."

The decision to bail the first suspects drew US criticism. Trump said he "wouldn't have done that," and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said many people were disturbed by it. Burnham defended it, saying release meant "the strictest possible bail conditions." Tuesday's re-arrests put two of those bailed men back in custody.

A wider pattern

MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said last week that Iran and Russia are both expanding attacks against the UK. He said Tehran is moving beyond its traditional targets of Iranian dissidents, and that the Fairford incident was not unique.

McCallum said more than 50 people have been arrested over Iran-linked plots in the past year. British officials have also said national security cases involving hostile states rose 50% in the six months to December 2025.

What comes next

No one has been charged. Police have not said how long the two men can be held, or whether prosecutors will bring charges under the National Security Act. Investigators have yet to establish what "Iranian state involvement" means in evidence: who allegedly directed the men, and what they were meant to do with three vans of petrol at a bomber base.