Five men are accused of preparing a terrorist act near an English air base the United States is using in its war against Iran.
London’s Metropolitan Police, which leads policing efforts involving potential terror incidents, said authorities received a call about three suspicious vehicles travelling near Gloucestershire’s RAF Fairford about 12:45am on Sunday, local time.
The arrests led to the evacuation of at least 85 nearby homes about 7am. An hour later, Gloucestershire police declared a major incident was underway.
Three vans were intercepted on a road in the small town of Whelford, adjacent to the RAF Fairford air base in Gloucestershire. (Reuters: Supplied/BBC News)
Residents from the evacuated properties were moved to a nearby leisure centre and told they would be unable to return to their homes through the night.
“We are in the early stages of an investigation, and five men remain in custody. As you would expect, we are working closely with our partners to understand the circumstances of the incident,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, the Met’s Counter Terrorism Policing senior national coordinator, said in a statement.
The United States has used Gloucestershire’s RAF Fairford air base during its war against Iran. (Reuters: Toby Shepheard)
“A 400m cordon has been put in place around the vehicles while the Army’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit conduct examinations.”
An image circulating online shows five shirtless men in handcuffs being arrested.
BBC Verify said it was unable to independently verify the photograph’s original source, but had geolocated it and “confirmed it appeared to be authentic”.
An image circulated online purporting to show the five men arrested near RAF Fairford. The BBC geolocated the image and confirmed it appeared to be authentic but was not able to independently verify its source. (Supplied: BBC News)
Julian Tudsbery, who has lived in Whelford for 30 years, said another resident reported seeing three “suspicious vans” in the village early on Sunday.
The BBC also reported a resident alerted police after seeing the three vans parked alongside a road and a group of men wearing masks.
An unnamed female farmer told the UK’s Telegraph she noticed the men scramble into nearby fields while she was returning home from a party.
She also said the vans appeared to be labelled with red business branding and a false phone number.
“It is pretty incredible, realising you had a brush with potential terrorists face to face and may have foiled a terrorist plot. It was clear they had just got there. Thank God we spotted them,” she told the newspaper.
“I mean, you don’t see masked men running around at half one in the morning in the countryside near a secure air base and not have concerns.“
Fears of a potential explosion
The men were initially arrested on suspicion of committing offences under the UK’s Explosives Act in the Whelford area, which backs onto RAF Fairford and hosts the headquarters of the US Air Force’s 501st Combat Support Wing and the 420th Air Base Squadron.
Aerial footage aired by Britain’s Sky News appeared to show a bomb disposal robot roaming between three white trucks.
The rear doors of two of the vans were open and large black items could be seen scattered around.
Police gave no details about the nationality of the men. Suspects arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 can be detained for up to 14 days without charge, unlike the 24-hour limit for standard arrests, without an extension application.
The US embassy in London later warned Americans in the UK to be cautious and mindful of their personal security.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he knew the incident would be “deeply concerning” for many people.
“The investigation remains ongoing, and I would urge people not to speculate while the authorities establish the full facts,” he said in a post on X.
British security officials say proxies linked to Iran have been behind a string of arson and sabotage attempts in the UK and other countries, many of them targeting the Jewish community.
They have previously warned Tehran could expand its targets in the UK if conflicts in the Middle East continue.
Police established a 400-metre exclusion zone around the air base. (Reuters: Toby Shepheard)
UK minister says unwise to speculate about any Iran involvement
When asked whether Iran was involved in the incident, British Defence Minister Wes Streeting said it would be “very unwise” for him to speculate about the motives of the men arrested.
Mr Streeting paid tribute to the woman who alerted police but did not answer questions on operational and security details during a BBC interview.
“She’s done exactly what we would hope a member of the public would do in the situation she found herself in,” he said.
“But I think we can be proud of the work that our police, counterterrorism police and security services do to keep us safe.
Wes Streeting said he would not speculate on possible links to Iran. (Reuters: Temilade Adelaja)
Mr Streeting assured people that “we have very robust tried and tested methods for protecting all of our bases around the UK and around the world”.
But he added, on the general Iranian threat to the country, that “we know that Iran and their proxies wish to do us harm”.
“We know that they hate our democracy, and we know that we regularly have to thwart Iranian attempts to threaten either our interests or indeed our allies,” Mr Streeting said.
Interception comes amid heightened tensions
The investigation comes amid heightened tensions in the UK over the potential threat posed by hostile states, such as Russia and Iran.
In March, officials said the number of national security cases involving activity by hostile states, including Iran, increased by 50 per cent in the six months to December 2025.
A specialist bomb disposal robot was used to gain access to the vehicles. (Reuters: Supplied/BBC News)
RAF Fairford has been used by American bombers for strictly limited strikes against Iranian missile sites under an agreement with former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, who voiced opposition to the war after the US and Israel launched it on February 28.
Authorities are investigating a link between the Fairford arrests and Iran as one possibility.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has previously indicated a base used to attack its territory was a legitimate target.
Tristan Wilkinson, the councillor for the Cotswold district in the UK, said authorities were aware of a recent threat against the base.
“There was a specific threat about six weeks ago from the Iranians on this base,” he said.
“At the time, there was increased surveillance around the area. This is an operational base.
“It’s no secret that we have American bombers here that are taking part in what’s happening in the Middle East at the moment. So there’s always the risk.“
Some residents have voiced concerns about the RAF Fairford base housing US military assets during the war against Iran. (Reuters: Toby Melville)
Following the arrests, US President Donald Trump praised British authorities.
“We had them under investigation. They were looking to do big damage to our fort,” he told reporters in Chicago.
“We had them under view for a long time and we got them.”
Residents ‘spooked’ by air base risk
George Currie, a 20-year-old university student from the market town of Cirencester, told AFP residents did not expect much to happen in the Cotswolds.
It’s just a lovely quaint area … I’m sure all the residents of Fairford are quite spooked and jumped about it,” he said.
“With how important Fairford has been with the air base, I’d be quite scared to live there at the moment.”
In July, protests were held outside the military base in opposition to the US. (Reuters: Toby Melville)
Other residents said the base was generally quiet apart from during a major annual air show that brought international visitors.
“It’s no trouble at all,” a dog walker told AFP.
“But actually using it as a bomber base is a bit worrying.“
ABC/wires
