File photo: United States Air Force personnel at RAF Fairford
Rubio made the claim after five British men arrested near the US-used airbase were released on police bail and stated that the incident “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor”. UK counter-terrorism police have said their release does not mean the investigation is over. Asked whether the case was linked to Iran, Trump said: “It might.
The men, all British nationals in their early 20s from London, remain under investigation and have been placed under stringent conditions governing their movement and contact with others. He declined to elaborate, saying he knew the answer but preferred not to disclose it.
The suspected terror plot near RAF Fairford has put a possible Iran link back in focus after US secretary of state Marco Rubio said a foreign actor was “clearly” involved, without naming the country or providing evidence. The development comes as British counter-terrorism investigators continue to examine whether the five men arrested near the airbase had links to a foreign state.
The embassy said such claims, particularly following what it described as US and Israeli “criminal acts of aggression” against Iran, would only fuel “Iranophobia propaganda” in the UK. It also said Iran reserved the right to take legal measures to protect the country’s rights and interests in response to what it called misleading and damaging media narratives. The head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor, said investigators were considering “multiple lines of enquiry”, including the possibility that the activity involved proxies or individuals knowingly or unknowingly working for a foreign state.
Trump had earlier said the suspects wanted to cause “big damage” and suggested they had been under investigation by British and US authorities.