U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has affirmed that the alleged averted attack against the American Air Force Base at Fairford, England, “clearly” involved “a foreign actor”, and praised the British authorities for being “very cooperative and on top of it.”
Confusion over an allegedly Iranian-involved terror plot to blow up one of the United States’ most important international air bases, which led to a group of suspects — allegedly balaclava-wearing men acting suspiciously near the facility — being arrested and then released again by British police shortly afterwards, continues on Tuesday. While the quick release and no invocation of terrorism laws to keep the men in detention at first glance seems to challenge early assumptions about the case, the U.S. administration has insisted there was in fact a foreign plot.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave the clearest indication that all is not what it seems when he told Fox News overnight that while he couldn’t go into detail for operational reasons, he could divulge: “What could have happened in the UK over the weekend is a very serious situation, it’s one that clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor… There’s a lot more news that will come out on this in the days to come”.
Rubio went to pains to repeat his appreciation for the work of British law enforcement in dealing with the situation, who he said have been “very cooperative and on top of it… very helpful on something that is a very serious incident… I want to thank the UK for their cooperation and their help”. Nevertheless, like President Donald Trump who spoke before him, Rubio questioned the decision to release the five suspects who had been arrested over the weekend, adding, “I know a lot of people are disturbed by the news that some of these people have been released on bail, some of the people who are being investigated. Obviously we are engaging with them on all of that.”
The American account, therefore, stands to some extent at odds with the British, with London counter-terror police saying they are now keeping an “open mind” and speaking of potential events as “not terrorism but quick financial gain”. Whether this disconnect stems from differing interpretations of events, or from deliberate obfuscation to keep potential Iranian proxies guessing, is unclear and impossible to determine.
Given that the United Kingdom and United States are locked in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing agreement, where the powers openly exchange information up to the highest levels to facilitate mutual spying on each other’s nations, the differences in opinion are unlikely to stem from a simple discrepancy in access to information.
As previously reported, five men were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences after they were discovered with three panel vans bearing sign writing of an apparently fictitious fuel delivery company on the verge of RAF Fairford, a de facto U.S. Air Force Base capable of operating America’s heaviest bombers and strategic aircraft that was recently used during Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
A bomb disposal robot was deployed, and the men were interrogated, but were released on bail — but apparently without being charged with terrorism offences — less than 48 hours later. Police said no viable explosives were found, and The Guardian cited “sources” that told the paper that “detectives believed it unlikely they had been on the brink of a mass casualty attack”.
These developments have inevitably led to widespread but unevidenced speculation on what happened and why as the slow-drip feeding of information from the British and American governments leaves much unsaid.
Regardless, security at the airbase has evidently been bolstered over the past week. Beyond local roads surrounding the base in rural Gloucestershire being locked down by British police, Caterpillar wheel loaders in military colours and bearing U.S. Army plates have been used to block perimeter gates, protecting them against ram-raid attacks, and the runway ramps themselves have been seen to be regularly patrolled by Oshkosh M1278 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles of the U.S.A.F..
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