British police arrested five men near Fairford Air Base in Gloucestershire early on Sunday on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, after receiving a report about three vehicles apparently heading towards the base. The investigation was transferred to counter-terrorism police within hours, while the authorities established a security cordon and evacuated residents from dozens of homes. Army bomb disposal experts began examining the vehicles.
Five men re-arrested on suspicion of terrorism
Counter-terrorism police said the report came at about 12.45am and contained information about three vehicles that “appeared to be heading towards the air base”. Armed officers went to the nearby village of Welford, where they initially arrested the five men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act.
Police later re-arrested the men on suspicion of “preparing a terrorist act” under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act. The security cordon extended 400 metres around the three vehicles, while about 85 homes were evacuated as a precaution as military bomb disposal experts began their examination.
A Welford resident said she had made the call that prompted the police response, explaining that she had seen three lorries and a large group of men wearing head coverings and masks. She said police arrived at the site about 15 minutes after the call was made.
It seems I thwarted what they were planning
The military role of Britain’s Fairford base
Vicky Evans, the counter-terrorism police coordinator, said the investigation was still “in its early stages”. The police press office referred questions about the nature of the materials being examined, the detainees’ identities, the possible target and any foreign links to the official statement, without providing further information. The incident is significant because of Fairford’s military role.
The facility is not an American base but is owned by the British government. However, the UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation says the US Air Force uses it as a “forward operating base for bombers”. The US Air Force describes Fairford as its “only forward operating location for bombers” in Europe.
The base’s use in operations against Iran
This role brought the base into military operations against Iran after London allowed the United States in March to use British bases in “specific defensive operations” against Iranian missile sites. US bombers subsequently began gathering at Fairford.
Sources told the US magazine Air & Space Forces that the number of B-1 bombers at the base had reached about 12, alongside three B-52 bombers, and that Fairford had been used to launch strikes on Iran.
On 17 March, then British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed to Parliament that Britain had authorised US forces to use the Fairford and Diego Garcia bases “to support defensive strikes against ballistic missiles targeting the Gulf region”. Fairford’s distance from the area of operations gives the base additional importance for US bombers.
The magazine reported that, during the first days, the bombers flew from the United States to Iran and back on sorties lasting about 36 hours. Military expert Mark Gunzinger said operating the bombers from Fairford shortened sortie times and reduced the need for refuelling, while also allowing missions to be conducted more frequently.
At the same time, the base’s use in those operations placed the British military facility among the threats linked to the war on Iran. On 23 July, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the United States had carried out bombing missions against Iran from Fairford, considering the bases used in those attacks to be legitimate targets from its perspective.
A British government spokesperson responded at the time: “Our armed forces are prepared to safeguard the security of the United Kingdom from any kind of attack, whether on our territory or from abroad.” In the weeks before the five men were arrested, local residents noticed changes to security procedures at the base.
One resident said “very heavy” vehicles had been placed at the gates, alongside barriers and concrete walls positioned behind one another, indicating tighter security around the facility. The US Air Force did not explain the reason for the measures and declined to discuss specific security arrangements. It said, however, that the 501st Wing and its other units operating in Britain “remain vigilant” and continuously assess the factors determining security measures for their facilities, personnel and families.
Investigation theories and the positions of the parties concerned
British police have not disclosed the detainees’ identities or nationalities, nor have they revealed the nature of the materials being examined by bomb disposal experts or identified any party behind the incident. Reuters quoted a source familiar with the investigation as saying that an Iran-linked motive was the most likely possibility being examined, alongside the possibility of a Russian sabotage operation or an “Islamist plot”, according to the source.
British police have not endorsed any of these theories. Tehran consistently denies involvement in attacks of this kind, describing the accusations against it as baseless and politically motivated. Moscow also denies carrying out hybrid attacks targeting Western countries.
US President Donald Trump said the suspects had been seeking to cause “major damage” and were “under investigation”, adding: “We had been watching them for a long time.” His remarks raise questions about the security monitoring that preceded the arrests. British police say their field response began after a call received shortly after midnight, while Trump spoke of surveillance that had continued for a long time before the men were detained.
A British government spokesperson said Prime Minister Andy Burnham was “receiving updates on the incident”, adding that “it would not be appropriate to comment further while investigations are under way”.
Investigators continue to examine the three vehicles and the materials inside them, while it has not yet been established whether Fairford Air Base itself was the intended target of the suspects’ movements.
