RAF Fairford: two re-arrested in Iran spy probe

UK counter-terrorism police said on October 20 that they had re-arrested two men on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service during an investigation into a security scare at RAF Fairford, a British airbase used by the United States.

Police said the country to which the investigation relates is Iran. The men are a 24-year-old British citizen and a 25-year-old UK-Iranian dual national, both from London.

The investigation concerns an incident at RAF Fairford in southwest England on September 27. Police were called to the base in the middle of the night after a local farmer reported a group of men with several white vans engaged in suspicious activity.

The United States abruptly withdrew all its B-1 bombers from the Royal Air Force site earlier in October after the incident.

Seven suspects were arrested in the days after the Fairford incident, including the two men now re-arrested. Police said all seven were released on bail earlier this month and none has been charged.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terror policing, said the investigation remained live and that evidence gathering was continuing. He said police still considered Iranian state involvement “highly likely” and were examining the extent of any involvement and the aim behind it.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said Iran's Revolutionary Guards “almost certainly directed” the scare. Tehran has consistently denied involvement.