British counter-terror police released five terror suspects on bail on Monday, a day after arresting them near RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire base that hosts American heavy bombers flying missions against Iran. US President Donald Trump said he would not have let them go, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a foreign actor clearly had a hand in the affair.
RAF Fairford is the US Air Force’s only European airfield for heavy bombers, and American B-52 and B-1 aircraft have flown from it during this year’s war with Iran.
How the Arrests Unfolded
Police arrested the five men in the early hours of Sunday, September 27, near the village of Whelford. Armed officers stopped three vans close to the base. All five are British nationals from London, aged between 23 and 25, and were held on suspicion of explosives offences and preparing a terrorist act.
A local farmer said she raised the first alarm after coming across hooded, masked men near the vans before 1 am, some of whom fled into the fields when they spotted her. She said she saw more than five men in the group, though police have not said whether they are seeking anyone else. She also said she believed the authorities “dropped the ball” by letting the group get so close to the base. Residents told British media that security around the base had tightened in the days before the incident.
Police evacuated about 85 households around the site, and families returned home on Monday evening.
Trump’s response
Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he was surprised the men were released. “I’m surprised that they released them. I wouldn’t have done that,” he told reporters. He praised the joint British and American effort behind the arrests and said the group had wanted to cause “big damage” at the base, an account British police have not confirmed. He said American and British agencies had watched the suspects for some time, and suggested a possible Iranian link without sharing intelligence to support it.
Rubio and others cite a foreign hand
Rubio struck a firmer note on Monday night, saying the episode “clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor,” though he declined to name a country and said more information would follow. He noted that Iran has openly threatened to attack American interests worldwide and warned that any attempted attack would have consequences. Florida congresswoman Kat Cammack also said Iran was clearly involved, without offering specifics.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had, in July, named Fairford among bases it considers legitimate targets. Iran’s embassy in London denied any involvement in the Fairford incident and called the speculation baseless.
The police account
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, defended the decision to grant bail, saying it did not mean the investigation was over. He said the men face strict conditions on their movements and contacts, acknowledged public interest in whether wider geopolitical factors were involved, and said investigators were keeping open the possibility that proxies had acted for a foreign state.
According to reports, the vans did not contain viable explosives, though detectives continue to treat a possible hostile-state link as a live line of inquiry. Under the Terrorism Act, police can hold terror suspects for up to 14 days before charge; these five were released after roughly a day and a half.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the farmer’s account “does raise questions” and argued that Trump had told the public more than British ministers had. The government has kept its distance from the bail decision. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting called it an operational matter for police and prosecutors, said the farmer had only a partial picture of events, and stopped short of blaming Iran, though he added: “We know they hate our democracy.” Prime Minister Andy Burnham chaired an emergency COBRA meeting on Monday.
The five men remain under investigation and have not been charged. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans described a large, complex operation involving the Ministry of Defence and asked for space to work carefully. Reports say detectives are examining possible links to Iran, Russia or militant groups, and counter-terror officers continue to examine the scene behind a police cordon.
