New: UK Police Rearrest Two Men Over Suspected Iran-Linked Plot at US-Run RAF Fairford Air Base

British police said on Tuesday they have rearrested two men on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service over a suspected plot at a US-run air base in England last month, the Associated Press reported.

Counter Terrorism Policing said the men, a 24-year-old British national and a 25-year-old dual UK-Iranian national, were arrested under the National Security Act. One was first arrested on September 27, when the suspected plot against RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire took place, and the other on October 1. Both had been released on bail while the investigation continued. Five other men arrested earlier remain on bail, and no one has been charged.

Fairford

Scores of residents were evacuated from their homes near the base as armed police and army bomb-disposal experts searched the rural area. Police later said they found a quantity of gasoline, an accelerant, in three vans at the site, but no explosives. The US Air Force has since removed all of its bombers from the base.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the apparent plot was “almost certainly” directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Iran has denied involvement, although it has previously said it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target. Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, described the case as a hugely complex investigation with many lines of enquiry.

The suspects have not been charged and are presumed innocent.

Sources: Associated Press; CBS News; The Washington Post.

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