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UK prosecutors on Tuesday charged two men under the National Security Act over the RAF Fairford incident, the Crown Prosecution Service announced. Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, a British Iranian dual national, and Nouman Essghir, 24, a British citizen, both of Westminster, London, made their first appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court on October 27.
Abdulkarim is charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service between August 31 and September 28. Essghir is charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK on August 22. ITV News reported that prosecutors allege Essghir filmed the base perimeter that day at the request of a handler known as "Ali."
The court granted Abdulkarim bail with conditions, including surrender of his passport. Essghir was remanded in custody. Both men are due back at the Old Bailey on November 20.
The charges stem from the events of September 27, when armed police and army bomb disposal experts searched the area around the Gloucestershire airbase and dozens of residents were evacuated. Prosecutors told the court that five men had been told to drive three white vans loaded with petrol to the site. In the early hours, one of them called police after a message warned of a bomb in the vehicles.
No explosives were found. The vans held metal oil drums, two of them containing petrol, along with plastic water butts and internet-enabled dashcams. Prosecutors also allege Abdulkarim bought equipment and received about £70,000 from the handler.
Police believe Ali is abroad and was working for Iran. Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said the UK has seen incidents "directed by the Iranian state" in recent months. Other suspects remain on bail while the investigation continues, and the CPS noted that a charging decision is not a finding of guilt.
The case follows the re-arrests we covered last week. The airbase is used by the United States, and its bombers struck Iran from the site earlier this year. US B-1 bombers were withdrawn from the base shortly after the incident. Al Jazeera, citing UK figures, reports that the country recorded 20 credible Iranian-backed threats to kill or kidnap people based in Britain last year.
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