Two Charged Over Alleged Iran-Linked Plot at RAF Fairford
Two British nationals, both 24 and from London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today over an alleged plot at the American-operated airbase in Gloucestershire. One is charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, which police have said they believe to be Iran; the other with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the United Kingdom.
Both charges are brought under the National Security Act of 2023, the legislation that replaced the old official secrets regime, and the case will next be heard at the Old Bailey on 20 November. Nothing is proven and neither man has entered a plea. The background is a major incident declared on 27 September after three suspicious vans were seen near the base, which led to dozens of residents being evacuated behind a large cordon; the second charge relates to an earlier occasion, and no explosive material was found in the vans. The wider context is a run of incidents in Britain that police have attributed to Iranian direction, and the timing sits oddly alongside this week’s diplomacy, with Gulf states in Tehran pressing for a deal between Iran and Washington. A third man arrested in October, a dual national, was released without charge. Because these are live proceedings we are reporting the charges, the court dates and nothing more.