The US has blamed Sunday's incident at RAF Fairford on a 'foreign actor' and says there is 'a lot more' to come out of the arrests. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News that the 'very serious' alleged terror plot was put together by a 'foreign actor', but he declined to name the organisation he suspects.
Arrests and investigation
Police in Gloucestershire arrested five men in Whelford, near RAF Fairford, a base used by the US Air Force for combat operations, at around 12:45am on Sunday (September 27). The bomb squad was called in to assess three vans spotted by a farmer who called 999 as she came home from a party.
It was initially believed they had links to Iran, as RAF Fairford has been used by the Americans to launch bombing raids on the Middle Eastern country. Tehran has denied any involvement with events.
Official responses
The head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, acknowledged speculation over whether Iran was behind the plot and said the force was considering 'every possible angle'. In a statement outside New Scotland Yard on Monday, Mr Taylor said he knew there was "significant interest in whether the current geopolitical context has a bearing on this incident".
During his statement, he confirmed the five men arrested, all British nationals living in London, have since been released on bail by police. Despite President Donald Trump expressing his 'surprise' at the bail decision, Mr Rubio lavished praise on British cops, calling officers 'very co-operative'.
However, he said: "I know a lot of people are disturbed by the news that some of these people have been released on bail... Obviously we're engaging with them on all of that. But suffice it to say that beyond that, I would argue that they've been very co-operative and very helpful on something that's a very serious incident, and I think it ties us to the reality here."
Next steps
Andy Burnham is set to chair an emergency COBRA meeting on the situation on Tuesday.
