Secretary of State Marco Rubio says a foreign actor was involved in a thwarted UK terror plot near a U.S.-used base, after five men were released on bail.
Speaking Monday night on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Rubio called the weekend incident near RAF Fairford in western England a very serious situation and said it “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor.”
British police arrested five British nationals in their early 20s from London in the early hours Sunday after a local farmer flagged three large white vans and a group of hooded, masked men. The men were later released on bail while the investigation continued. Fox News reported the details as security remained tight around the base used by American forces.
President Donald Trump told reporters the episode “might be” tied to Iran and said he would not have freed the suspects. Iran denied any role. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters the vans did not contain viable explosives and that the Sunday police response was not intelligence-led.
The alert came from a local farmer who asked not to be named. He told reporters he returned home around 1 a.m. local time, found three large vans parked in the road, one with a fake telephone number, and saw hooded and masked men running away. He called police.
British police declared a major incident at RAF Fairford. The U.K. government held a national emergency meeting. Security was increased at the base. A large cordon and roadblocks remained into Tuesday morning. Some nearby homes were evacuated, with residents later returning.
Local residents said security had already been significantly beefed up in the days leading into Sunday. The farmer also said one neighbor driving past the base on Saturday night had been ordered by U.S. security personnel to stop and put hands out of the car.
Breitbart reported that 85 households were evacuated and that the five men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offenses and preparing a terrorist attack. Counterterrorism detectives examined possible Iranian involvement linked to U.S. use of the base.
Rubio thanked the United Kingdom for its cooperation and help. He declined to give great detail on the foreign-actor assessment and said more news would come out in the days ahead.
Before his fuller remarks, Rubio framed the stakes this way:
“What happened, what almost happened, what could have happened in the U.K. over the weekend is a very serious situation,”
He added:
“It's one that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor.”
Rubio linked the episode to open threats against American interests abroad, citing Iran as an example, and said any attack or attempt would bring repercussions. He said the matter was responded to appropriately and that only so much could be said at that point.
Trump, speaking at the White House on Monday, went further on the operational side. Just the News reported he told reporters the men arrested were “looking to do big damage to our fort,” in apparent reference to the air base. He also said of the bail release, “I wouldn't have done that.”
RAF Fairford is no random airstrip. The Washington Examiner reported the base has been used by the U.S. Air Force for B-1 and B-52 bomber missions against Iranian targets. Authorities have treated a possible Iranian link as the most likely motive under review, while also weighing other possibilities.
Breitbart’s account placed the probe in the context of Operation Epic Fury and noted prior IRGC statements that any base used in U.S. operations against Iran should be considered a legitimate target. The same reporting quoted Counter Terrorism Policing’s Vicki Evans saying the investigation was in its early stages and that authorities were working closely with partners to understand the circumstances.
Fox News’ account stated the United States has been at war with Iran since late February. Britain had already raised its national terrorism threat level to the second-highest in April after a series of antisemitic incidents in north London and has imposed sanctions on individuals and entities linked to Iran over hostile activity, including plotting attacks.
Iran on Monday denied any involvement in the Fairford incident, consistent with earlier denials of attacks or plots in Britain and elsewhere.
Police released the five on bail Monday and said the investigation was not over. They continued to examine whether individuals acting for a foreign state were involved. No names of the suspects were released in the available reporting. No injuries or property damage were reported from the weekend events.
Trump praised the joint work, saying the men had been under investigation and under view for a long time and that working with the British “worked out great.” U.K. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, quoted in the Washington Examiner’s coverage, said Iran and its proxies wish to do the West harm.
A Reuters source’s account that the vans lacked viable explosives and that the response was not intelligence-led sits alongside Rubio’s foreign-actor judgment and Trump’s description of intended damage. Those threads have not been publicly reconciled in full. Rubio said more details would follow.
As of Tuesday morning, the cordon around RAF Fairford remained. Roadblocks stayed in place. The five men from London remained under investigation after walking free on bail, a step the American president said he would not have taken.
Foreign hands near a base flying American missions is not a paperwork problem. It is a test of whether allies treat attempted attacks on shared assets with the seriousness the threat demands.
