Two charged with national security offences over RAF Fairford incident
One of the men, Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, 24, is accused of assisting Iran's intelligence service.
Two British nationals have been charged over national security offences linked to the September incident at RAF Fairford, with one accused of helping Iran’s intelligence service.
Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, 24, has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service following the incident near the Gloucestershire airbase.
Nouman Essghir, also 24, has been charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK a month earlier, on 22 August. Both men are due to appear later at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
On 27 September, three suspicious vans were spotted close to the US-operated airbase.
Police found no explosive material in the vans, but did seize a quantity of petrol. A large cordon was then established around the base for several days.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terror police, said Essghir, a British national from Westminster, had been charged under Section 4 of the National Security Act 2023.
He was arrested at the scene near RAF Fairford on 27 September and arrested again on 20 October.
A 25-year-old UK-Iranian national, who was also re-arrested that day on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, has now been released without charge. He remains on police bail following his original arrest on 1 October on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
The October re-arrests prompted detectives to interview Abdulkarim.
Eight men have been arrested as part of the counter-terror police inquiry. That includes five British nationals from London, who were detained near the airbase in September on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act before being further arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. Six men are still on police bail.
AC Taylor said counter-terror police had seen "a range of incidents in recent months that we believe have been directed by the Iranian state".
Iran has previously denied any role in the RAF Fairford incident.
The base has served for decades as a forward operating location for the US Air Force (USAF).
In recent months, the US has launched B-1 and B-52 bombers from the base to the Middle East after the UK approved a request for it to be used for defensive strikes against Iran.
Following the September incident, the US removed its bombers from the base and sent them back to America.
US President Donald Trump said the aircraft were taken away because of "some threats" to the base, but gave no further details.