RAF Fairford terror arrests and next-day bail: Much ado about nothing?
On September 27, five men were arrested outside a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Fairford, UK. RAF Fairford is 150 km west of London and has a very long runway suitable for heavy B-1 supersonic bombers. The US Air Force has aircraft stationed there. RAF Fairford hosts the USAF’s 501st Combat Support Wing. The five men who were arrested had three vans, and police suspected that they contained explosives.
Astonishingly, the five suspects were released on bail on September 28. UK legislation allows suspected terrorists to be held for up to 14 days before the police either charge them with a crime or release them unconditionally. Releasing them on bail means they are not allowed to leave the country and must return to the police station for further questioning when ordered to do so. None of them has been charged with any crime. The investigation may yet be closed without any of them being charged.
The men were apprehended under the Explosives Act. Police will now examine phones and computers belonging to the men, and there may also be searches of their homes. Clearly, there was not enough evidence to charge them. If they had possessed explosives without a licence, that would have been sufficient evidence in itself. So perhaps they did not have any explosives. Remote-controlled robots were initially used to examine the vans before it was determined that there were no bombs inside.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the incident on Sunday certainly involved people who were not British. However, all five suspects are British and in their 20s. All five have addresses in London. The US was concerned because of the presence of US Air Force aircraft and American personnel. Rubio praised the British police for their swift response.
The police detective in charge of the investigation said officers are examining the possibility that a foreign government was involved. The Iranian Embassy in London said that Iran had no connection to the alleged incident.
There is a cordon near RAF Fairford. As many as 85 families were investigated shortly after the police arrested the five men. The families have since been allowed to return to their homes.
Local people criticised the police and the RAF for not keeping them informed.
A local farmer saw the five men wearing balaclavas and acting suspiciously at one o’clock in the morning before calling the police. If the police had believed that the men were carrying explosives, they would not have allowed them to get so close to the air base before arresting them.
The British Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary say they are following developments closely. But could this all be much ado about nothing?
No one was killed, wounded or kidnapped. So far as we know, there was no attempt to do any of these things. Is the United States trying to point the finger at Iran simply to provide a bogus justification for America’s war of aggression against Iran? Is it an attempt to dupe the British into fighting against Iran?
The UK has stayed out of the Iran war but did use its RAF jets in the Middle East to shoot down some Iranian missiles and drones heading towards Gulf Arab countries. President Trump tried to strong-arm the UK into allowing the United States to use RAF Fairford to launch air raids on Iran. London refused.