Five British men freed after arrest over suspected plot to attack UK air base

Five British men in their 20s arrested over a suspected failed attack on a UK-owned, US-operated air force base in south-west England have been released on bail as police investigate whether Iran is behind the incident.

Counter-terrorism police released the first details about the suspects at lunchtime on Monday (Monday night AEST) as questions emerged about how much police and spy services did or didn’t know in advance.

Later in the day, Assistant Commissioner Lawrence Taylor announced the men – aged between 23 and 25 and all from Westminster, Camden and Willesden in London – would be released on police bail on Monday afternoon (early Tuesday AEST).

“To be very clear, this does not mean that the investigation is over,” he said, in a statement given to the media without the chance to ask questions outside New Scotland Yard.

“They are subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others.

“They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of inquiry.”

The men were arrested when three vans were stopped not long after midnight on Sunday (Sunday morning AEST) apparently on their way to RAF Fairford, a Cotswolds Royal Air Force base that also hosts US planes and armed forces.

They were held on suspicions of explosives offensives and preparing a terrorist act but no charges were laid.

There was some surprise at the release of the men, which came within hours of Prime Minister Andy Burnham announcing he would convene the emergency COBRA committee, showing how seriously the government was taking the incident.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the release “dramatically reduces the scale of how big or how dangerous a plot this was alleged to be” and was at odds with the declaration of a “major incident”.

“Up and down the country the word ‘What?!’ is probably being mouthed in incredulity,” he wrote.

Taylor said police were keeping an “open mind” and confirmed, without mentioning the country by name, that involvement by Iran was one possibility being considered.

“Be assured we are considering this from every possible angle, including that this may be actively committed by proxies or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state,” he said.

The men were detained under the PACE Act, not terrorism provisions that would allow their detention for up to two weeks without charge.

Iran denied involvement. Its London embassy said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” about the incident.

Counter Terrorism Policing said investigators were still trying to work out the “full circumstances of the activity of those arrested, their knowledge and any motivation behind this incident”.

“This is a hugely complex and large-scale operation, involving local and national policing, the MOD, and local agencies, who are working together to progress the investigation and support for the community,” national coordinator Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said, in a statement issued earlier in the day.

“I know this has been incredibly disruptive for local people, but I’d like to reassure them that our activity is in the interest of national security, but most importantly in the interest of their own safety.”

Dozens of homes in the nearby village of Whelford were evacuated on Sunday before a specialist army explosives team spent the day using robots to inspect the vans.  

Investigators have not concluded whether the incident is a state-backed attack. They are investigating a possible link to Iran, Russia or non-state-backed militant groups. RAF Fairford has also been the focus of protests by anti-war campaigners.

Evans asked for police to be given space to work carefully and clearly.

“I am very aware of the levels of speculation about the motivation behind this incident, and the geopolitical questions that are being raised,” she said, on Monday.

US President Donald Trump said the suspects had been detained following cooperation between the US and Britain, and had been “under view” for some time. Police, however, said the arrests were triggered by a late-night call about “suspicious vehicles” near the base.

A farmer who said her emergency call to police “foiled” the plot said it was “pure luck” she was returning to the village at the same time as the vans and was “absolutely staggered that it was left to me, as a member of the public, to see and report this”.

"I think they were hyper focused and vigilant about the base itself and had absolutely no regard for our village," she told the BBC.

"The vans were within metres of houses and those people were left unaware.

"I'm just really keen to highlight that it appears someone really dropped the ball on this."

The arrests come at a time of heightened tensions around the threat from hostile states, with British intelligence services saying Russia and Iran have both used proxies to commit crimes on British soil. 

Australia levelled specific accusations against Iran last year. 

In March, UK officials said the number of national security cases involving activity by hostile states, including Iran, increased 50 per cent in the six months to December 2025.

Iran has also been linked to a series of attacks in Europe.

- Reported with Associated Press