UK examines foreign state involvement in suspected airbase plot, releases suspects

POLICE REMAIN AT SCENE

Taylor said the three white vans had been subject to extensive examination, with the support of the military and forensic experts, and police still had “significant resources deployed at the scene”.

Trump said on Sunday that the suspects had been looking to do “big damage” and had been under investigation by British and US authorities. However, doubts were voiced in British media about the degree to which they had been under surveillance, given how close they had come to the base.

The source familiar with the investigation said the arrests were not “intelligence-led”, although security had been heightened at the base, suggesting authorities were aware of an increased threat.

The farmer who alerted the police told reporters she had seen a group of “hooded and masked men” running into fields. The farmer, who has not been identified, said she believed it was her phone call to the 999 emergency hotline that foiled any plot and that she thought she had seen up to 10 people at the scene.

Defence minister Wes Streeting told the BBC the farmer had only a “partial picture” of the investigation, without providing further clarification.

“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,” Streeting said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee.

TERRORISM THREAT SEVERE

Britain raised its national terrorism threat level to its second-highest level in April after a series of antisemitic incidents in north London, meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

Police said they were investigating links with Iran to many of those incidents in which properties connected to the Jewish community or Iranian dissidents were targeted.

After the Fairford arrests, the US embassy issued a security alert saying US citizens should exercise caution and be “mindful of personal security”. Security was stepped up at other US airbases in Britain.

The British government had given authorisation to the US to use bombers based at Fairford to strike Iranian missile sites attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

In Fairford, police imposed a 400m cordon around the base and evacuated residents from 85 homes in the nearby village of Whelford.

“Thanks to the excellent work of the army’s explosive ordnance disposal team, the scene is now safe, and the residents of Whelford will shortly be returning home,” British interior minister Shabana Mahmood said.