Two British men were charged Tuesday in connection with what authorities say was a terrorism-related plot involving the Royal Air Force’s Fairford air base last month, with one of the suspects accused of coordinating with Iran’s intelligence services.
The two men, both 24 years old and British nationals, were arrested over the past week but were officially charged Tuesday with violating the country’s National Security Act on Tuesday, according to The Crown Prosecution Service.
Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim was charged with assisting Iran’s intelligence services while Nouman Essghir was charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to Britain.
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The two men appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Tuesday afternoon.
The charges did not specify whether Mr. Abdulkarim coordinated with the official Iranian intelligence ministry or with a proxy group affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Mr. Essghir was one of the five men arrested at RAF Fairford, a British base that hosts U.S. bombers, on Sept. 27 after residents called the police to report a suspicious white van and masked men near the facility.
The five men, who have not all been identified, were released on bail just hours after their arrest after counter-terrorism authorities failed to find explosives in the van on the scene. Investigators did find an unknown amount of gasoline, an accelerant, in the vehicle.
Since the incident, police have arrested six other individuals and searched residences. All those arrested before this week were subsequently released on bail.
The decision to release the suspects drew widespread criticism, even from President Trump, who said that the U.S. likely would not have released the individuals if they were in charge.
Counter-terrorism authorities in the country have repeatedly insisted that the men released from custody were under strict surveillance and movement restrictions.
“We know the decisions made during our investigations can sometimes appear illogical to those on the outside, but I want to make it very clear that there will always be a good reason or rationale behind them,” said Laurence Taylor, head of the country’s counter terrorism agency.
Motive for the crime has been subject to intense speculation in the U.S. and Britain as Iranian leadership insists that any country that hosts U.S. military assets is a legitimate target for attacks in the ongoing war.
That includes RAF Fairford, which Iranian officials had singled out as a potential target earlier in the war after Britain began allowing the Pentagon to use the base to launch bombing runs against targets in Iran.
London has insisted that there is strong evidence that Iran was behind the alleged attack. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that the apparent plot was “almost certainly” directed by the IRGC.
The accusations have been backed up by President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who have both said that Iranian intelligence was involved in the incident on some level.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has forcefully rejected the accusations that Iran was involved.
Fears over potential attacks on U.S. assets at the base led to the Pentagon ordering the removal of over a dozen B-1 bombers from the RAF Fairford base earlier this month.
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