London – Two men have been charged with serious security offenses in Britain after being arrested in connection with the incident last month near RAF Fairford, the air base in England that was used by the US military to launch strikes against Iran, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Tuesday.
Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, and Nouman Essghir, 24, both British nationals and residents of London, were charged under the National Security Act 2023.
Abdulkarim was charged with “aiding a foreign intelligence service” in September and “conduct likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out UK-related activities”.
The CPS said Essghir was charged with a national security offense after he “approached or was in the vicinity of a prohibited place and his conduct was for a purpose which he knew, or in view of other matters of which he was aware, which he reasonably ought to have known, was detrimental to the security or interests of the United Kingdom”.
The two men were arrested last week on suspicion of helping Iranian intelligence services in an operation alleged plot targeting Fairford Air Force Base in England.
Abdulkarim was arrested by counter-terrorism police under the National Security Act last week, along with another man, 25, a dual British-Iranian national, who was released on bail pending further investigation.
Police are still investigating a suspected terror plot against Fairford after five men were arrested on September 27 near the base in western England. Those five men were also released on bail, but police said they were still under investigation and would be monitored.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that the government believes that Iran “played a role” during the incident at the base, which prompted the US Air Force to withdraw all its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford. The base was home to US long-range bombers for many years and was used during the war with Iran to launch strikes against the Islamic Republic.
Residents of a nearby town were evacuated from their homes near the base as armed police and bomb disposal experts searched the area on September 27. They found gasoline in three pickup trucks driven by the five initial suspects parked near an entrance to the base, but no explosives.
User-generated content via BBC News 
Iranian officials have repeatedly said that any base used to attack the country would be considered a legitimate target. The Iranian Embassy in London, however, said in an earlier statement that the regime “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculation published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran” to the incident.
Police said on Tuesday that six men remained on bail in connection with the incident, four of whom were arrested on September 27 – all British nationals and residents of London in their 20s – and two others who were subsequently arrested, including the 25-year-old dual British and Iranian national, arrested on October 1.
Gn world
