Circuit Wire — a daily news update from the Circuit.
UK counter-terrorism police rearrested two men on October 20 on suspicion of assisting Iran's intelligence service, CBS News reported, in the investigation into a suspected plot at RAF Fairford.
The men are a 24-year-old British national and a 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national. They were held under the National Security Act. Both had been released on bail after earlier arrests, which Al Jazeera dates to September 27 and October 1.
RAF Fairford is a US-run air base in Gloucestershire that has been used for strikes on Iran during this year's war. Police declared a major incident on September 27 after a member of the public reported three suspicious vans near the base. According to Express & Star, the caller described a large group of hooded men blocking the road. A 400-metre cordon went up and 85 households were evacuated overnight.
Officers later found a quantity of petrol in the vans but no explosives. The US Air Force has since removed its bombers from the base.
Five other men arrested earlier in the investigation remain on bail. No one has been charged. Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, said investigators consider it "highly likely that there is Iranian state involvement." He called the inquiry very much a live investigation.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the plot was almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranian Embassy in London has rejected the allegations as unfounded and malicious.
MI5 Director General Ken McCallum has said that more than 50 people have been arrested over Iran-linked plots in the past year. He has also said Iran and Russia are expanding attacks on UK military bases, and that the Fairford incident is not unique, according to Al Jazeera.
Iran has said it regards any base used to attack its territory as a legitimate target.
Want a weekly roundup of the major stories shaping the security industry? The On The Circuit newsletter is read by more than 12,000 protection professionals.
Spotted something we should cover? Send tips and feedback via circuit-magazine.com.