UK Re-arrests Two Men on Suspicion of Spying for Iran
The suspects, a 24-year-old British citizen and a 25-year-old British-Iranian dual national, both from London, were arrested on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, police said.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — British counter-terrorism police said Tuesday they had re-arrested two men on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence services as part of an investigation into a security scare at a British airbase used by the United States.
The suspects, a 24-year-old British citizen and a 25-year-old British-Iranian dual national, both from London, were arrested on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, police said.
“The country to which the investigation relates is Iran,” the police statement said.
The arrests relate to an incident on September 27 at Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford in southwest England, which hosts US military aircraft. The United States abruptly withdrew all its B-1 bombers from the base earlier this month following the incident.
Police were alerted in the early hours of September 27 after a local farmer reported seeing a group of men with several white vans engaged in what he described as suspicious activity near the base.
Seven suspects were arrested in the days following the incident, including the two men re-arrested this week. All seven were released on bail earlier this month, and none has been charged.
The 24-year-old was initially arrested near RAF Fairford on September 27, while the 25-year-old dual national was arrested in London on October 1. Their latest arrests were made under a 2023 national security law concerning assistance to foreign intelligence services.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terrorism policing, said specialist teams were continuing to investigate the case.
“Our evidence gathering continues,” Taylor said, describing the investigation as “very much a live investigation.”
He added that police still considered Iranian state involvement “highly likely” and were examining the extent of Tehran’s possible involvement and the objectives behind the incident.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has also said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “almost certainly directed” the security scare, which has remained the subject of speculation.
Tehran has consistently denied involvement in the incident.
The investigation remains ongoing, and the suspects have not been charged.