UK-Iranian dual national arrested in London over suspected terror plot against US-run airbase
British cops question another suspect under caution, search properties in capital as part of 'hugely complex' investigation; Netanyahu: Israel provided intel before UK announced settlement sanctions
British police have arrested a dual UK-Iranian national on suspicion of plotting a terror attack following a security incident at a US-run military airbase in England that was used to carry out strikes on Iran, police said Thursday.
The 27-year-old man was arrested in London on Thursday, and police have searched two properties in the UK capital.
A 26-year-old British national was also interviewed by police under caution but was not arrested, Counter Terrorism Policing said in a statement.
On Sunday, five men, all in their 20s and from London, were arrested over the incident at RAF Fairford, which has been used by American bombers to strike Iran. They have since been released on bail.
Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for counter terrorism policing, said the investigation “is hugely complex, and our specialist teams are interrogating multiple lines of enquiry.
“As we’ve made clear, we’re looking at all possible angles — including possible foreign state involvement,” she said.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the UK sees “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident, comments that led Iran to summon the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Tehran, Hugo Shorter, according to the Iranian official IRNA news agency.
The deputy foreign minister of Iran, which has denied involvement, denounced the British government’s “baseless accusations” while condemning the country for making military bases and facilities under its jurisdiction “available for the planning and execution of the US-Israeli military aggression against Iran.”
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel tipped off Britain about a plot shortly before Burnham’s government on September 8 announced sanctions on products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Since taking office in late July, Burnham has taken a tougher stance on Israel, claiming his predecessor did not do enough.
“You want to hear how absurd things are there, and how far the anti-Israel propaganda has gone?” Netanyahu told Fox News host Sean Hannity late Wednesday.
“We gave the Brits the intel that there was going to be an attack, and it’s an Iranian-sponsored attack. And pretty much the next day, they slapped sanctions on us,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has also spoken of a possible Iranian role in the incident, in which a resident reported masked men near vans heading to the Fairford airbase. Trump also previously said those involved had planned “big damage.”