London — President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized British counterterrorism police’s handling of a possible plot targeting a British air base used by U.S. forces, with Rubio calling it a “very serious” incident and alleging that it “clearly involved” a foreign actor, and the president suggesting it “could be” Iran.
Five British nationals, all men in their twenties, were arrested on Sunday morning in an English village near the British airbase RAF Fairford, suspected of planning a terrorist act. The base was used by American bombers to launch attacks against Iran during the seven-month war.
The five men were released on bail on Monday, with the head of Britain’s counter-terrorism unit emphasizing that they would remain “subject to strict conditions regarding their movement and contact with others” and that they “absolutely remain under investigation as we explore several lines of inquiry.”
The fact that they were released so quickly and not charged with alleged crimes, and that authorities did not report finding any explosives or weapons, however, fueled speculation that the men may not have planned to attack the base at all. Some local media outlets cited British security sources as saying the men may simply have been looking to steal fuel.
“A very serious thing?”
Reacting to the news Monday in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said he was “surprised they released them. I wouldn’t have done that.”
He said US and British authorities had worked “very closely” on the issue, adding: “We know everything about them. We would not have released them.”
The president added that the incident “could be” linked to Iran, but when asked for more information, he said: “I’d rather not. I mean, I know the answer, I could be very specific, but I’d rather not say it. I wouldn’t have released them.”
Rubio, meanwhile, said Monday that many people following the incident were “troubled that some of them were released on bail.”
“What may have happened in the United Kingdom this weekend is a ‘very serious situation,'” Rubio said on Fox News, saying it “clearly involved the hands of ‘a foreign actor,’ without offering any other explanation for the claim, which went further than British authorities in characterizing the incident.”
“There will be a lot more news on this in the coming days, but I can’t say much at the moment other than it’s a very serious thing,” he said.
“Just thieves siphoning fuel?”
Asked about releasing the men, a British legal expert told CBS News on Tuesday that it would be “reasonable to release the suspects on bail to see where they go and who they talk to.”
“This would not be the first time these tactics have been used,” said the analyst, who requested anonymity. “I don’t think the police are stupid or flippant in this matter.”
There has been speculation – which has not yet been directly commented on by British police – that the five men may be diesel fuel thieves targeting local farms, or perhaps an external supply of fuel for the base, intended for resale. It’s a crime that has become more widespread in the United Kingdom as the war in Iran has driven up diesel and gasoline prices, according to a May report from intelligence agency DeterTech.
Two people described as military sources, speaking to local Wiltshire 999s newspaper on Monday, reportedly said the suspects were “simple thieves siphoning off fuel”, with barrels and other equipment found in their vehicles.
British police said no viable explosive devices were found in the three vans driven by the men. Footage of police working around these vehicles shows large, apparently empty barrels being removed from at least one truck.
Bad actors working “knowingly or unknowingly” for a foreign state?
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of the London Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit, told reporters on Monday that the incident “could be activity carried out by proxies, or individuals, knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state.”
Iranian authorities have warned that any base used to attack the country would be considered a legitimate target.
Iran has denied any links to the arrests near RAF Fairford. The Iranian Embassy in London said in a statement shared on social media on Monday that the regime “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculation published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran” to the incident.
Iran has, however, like Russia, been accused of using individuals who do not even know they are working for a foreign state to carry out sabotage attacks across Western Europe.
The Iran-aligned Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia group – or Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous (IMCR) – has claimed responsibility for several incidents in recent months, including attacks on synagogues in the Netherlands and Belgium, and multiple attacks on the Jewish community in North London.
A representative of the group told CBS News in March, he said he would “continue to threaten American and Israeli interests around the world until we have avenged all the children of Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and the resistance countries,” and he urged people “to stay away from Zionist and American interests.”
In July, the British government said the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe.”
Experts have characterized the incidents as part of a growing trend by Iran and Russia to outsource sabotage by recruiting sometimes unsuspecting people, often young men, to carry out low-level attacks for financial compensation.
On Tuesday, law enforcement authorities in NATO member Estonia said they had determined that an arson attack on a defense industry company in mid-August was a “deliberate and pre-planned act ordered by Russian security services.”
Gn world
