▶ Watch Video: British authorities defend decision to let terror suspects go on bail
London — President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have criticized British counterterror police’s handling of a possible plot targeting a U.K. air base used by U.S. forces, with Rubio calling it a “very serious” incident and alleging that it “clearly involved” a foreign actor, and the president suggesting it “might be” Iran.
Five British nationals, all men in their mid-20s, were arrested Sunday morning in an English village near the British air force base RAF Fairford on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. The base has been used by American bombers to launch attacks on Iran during the seven-month war.
All five men were released on bail Monday, with the head of the U.K.’s Counter Terror Policing unit stressing they would remain “subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others” and that they “absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of enquiry.”
The fact that they were released so quickly and not charged with any suspected crimes, and that authorities did not report finding any explosives or weapons, has fueled speculation, however, that the men may not have been planning to attack the base at all. Some local media outlets have cited U.K. security sources saying the men may just have been looking to steal fuel.
“A very serious thing?”
Reacting to the news in the Oval Office Monday, Mr. Trump said he was “surprised that they released them. I wouldn’t have done that.”
He said U.S. and British authorities had worked “very closely” on the matter, adding: “We know everything about them. We would not have released them.”
The president added that the incident “might be” linked to Iran, but when pressed for more information, he replied: “I’d rather not. I mean, I know the answer, I could be very specific, but I’d rather not say. I would not have released them.”
Rubio, meanwhile, said Monday that many people following the incident were “disturbed that some of these people have been released on bail.”
“What could have happened in the U.K. over the weekend is a very serious situation,” Rubio told Fox News, saying it “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor,” without offering any further explanation for the assertion, which went further than British authorities have in characterizing the incident.
“There’s a lot more news that’ll come out on this in the days to come, but there’s only so much I can say right now at this point about it, other than this is a very serious thing,” he said.
“Just thieves siphoning fuel?”
Asked about the release of the men, a British legal expert told CBS News Tuesday that it would be “reasonable to release suspects on bail to see where they go and who they talk to.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time these tactics have been used,” said the analyst, who declined to be named. “I don’t think the police are being stupid or casual in this.”
There has been speculation — not commented on yet directly by British police — that the five men may have been diesel fuel thieves targeting local farms, or perhaps an external fuel supply for the base, for resale. It’s a crime that has proliferated in the U.K. as the Iran war has driven up diesel and gasoline prices, according to a May report from intelligence agency DeterTech.
Two people described as military sources, speaking Monday to local news outlet Wiltshire 999s, were quoted as saying the suspects were “just thieves siphoning fuel,” with barrels and other equipment found in their vehicles.
The British police have said no viable explosive device was discovered in the three vans driven by the men. Images of the police working around those vehicles have shown large, seemingly empty barrels that were removed from at least one truck.
Bad actors working “knowingly or unknowingly” for a foreign state?
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of the London Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terror unit, told reporters Monday the incident “may be activity committed by proxies, or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state.”
Iranian authorities have warned that any bases used to attack the country would be considered legitimate targets.
Iran has denied any link to the arrests near RAF Fairford. The Iranian Embassy in London said in a statement shared Monday on social media that the regime “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran” to the incident.
Iran has, however, like Russia, been accused of using individuals who may be unaware they are even working for a foreign state to conduct sabotage attacks across Western Europe.
The Iran-aligned group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia — or The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous (IMCR) — has claimed responsibility for several incidents over the past few months, including attacks on synagogues in the Netherlands and Belgium, and multiple attacks on north London’s Jewish community.
A representative of the group told CBS News in March that it would “keep threatening U.S. and Israeli interests worldwide until we’ve avenged every child in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, and the resistance nations,” and it urged people “to stay away from Zionist and American interests.”
In July, the U.K. government said the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe.”
Experts have characterized those incidents as part of a growing pattern of Iran and Russia outsourcing sabotage by recruiting sometimes unsuspecting people, often young men, to carry out low-level attacks for financial compensation.
On Tuesday, law enforcement authorities in NATO member Estonia said they had determined an arson attack against a defense industry company in mid-August was a “deliberate and pre-planned act commissioned by Russian security services.”
