The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said that there was a foreign actor involved in the alleged plot to attack the UK Fairford airbase that hosts US troops, without providing evidence or specifying details.
"What happened, what almost happened, what could have happened in the UK over the weekend is a very serious situation. It's one that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor. I won't get into great detail about that yet," Rubio said on the Fox News network's Hannity program late on Monday.
British police said on Monday they were investigating whether individuals acting for a foreign state were involved in the plot, but said five suspects they had arrested would be released on bail.
The five men, all British nationals from London in their early 20s, were detained early on Sunday after police were alerted by a local farmer about three white vans driving towards RAF Fairford, a British base that houses US bombers that fly missions against Iran.
The RAF Fairford incident
The men were detained early Sunday after three vans were spotted near RAF Fairford, a UK-owned base operated by the US Air Force that has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in West Asia.
The five were initially held over suspected explosives offenses, and later also arrested on suspicion of preparing an act of terrorism. Police can hold them for up to 14 days before they must be charged or released.
US President Donald Trump said the suspects had been detained following cooperation between the US and Britain, and had been “under view” for some time. Police, however, said the arrests were triggered by a late-night call about “suspicious vehicles” near the base.
British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting declined to give details of the operation, but said “it was a proud moment” that Trump had recognised “the work that our police and intelligence services do every day.”
“As and when we can, we will report back to the public about these individuals and about the nature of the threat,” Streeting told Times Radio.
Investigators have not concluded whether the incident is a state-backed attack, but are investigating a possible Iran link.
The arrests come at a time of heightened tensions around the threat from hostile states, with British intelligence services saying Russia and Iran have both used proxies to commit crimes on British soil. In March, officials said the number of national security cases involving activity by hostile states including Iran increased 50 per cent in the six months to December 2025.
Iran rejects link to alleged plot to attack Fairford airbase
Meanwhile, Iran's embassy in London on Monday rejected what it described as "unfounded and malicious speculations" linking Tehran to five British nationals who were arrested over the weekend near Britain's RAF Fairford airbase.
In a statement posted on X, the embassy said it "categorically rejects and strongly condemns" attempts to connect Iran to the arrests and said such speculation would only serve to "fuel Iranophobia propaganda" in Britain.
British police have not linked Iran to the arrests, and an investigation led by Counter Terrorism Policing was underway.
(With inputs from AP via PTI & Reuters)
