RAF

Two British nationals have appeared in court in connection to an alleged Iran-linked plot at RAF Fairford last month.

Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, from Westminster, London, has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, which police earlier said they believed to be Iran.

Nouman Essghir, also 24 and from Westminster, has been charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK on 22 August – weeks before he was arrested near the airbase in Gloucestershire alongside four other men.

The pair appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

A major incident was declared after three suspicious vans were seen near the US-operated airbase on 27 September.

Dozens of residents were evacuated and a large cordon was put up in the area around the base. No explosive materials were found in the vans by police but a quantity of petrol was seized.

The court heard vans bearing the logo “Fuel2You” were spotted close to the base.

In the early hours, the vans came across a Ministry of Defence Police cordon and re-routed to another location.

Police arrived and arrested five men. They later revealed that one had called 999 and reported what was going on.

During the hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Essghir stood in the dock wearing a grey sweatshirt and confirmed his name and address.

Abdulkarim is charged with helping with the plot.

He appeared in court in a wheelchair wearing a checked shirt, jeans and a baseball cap. He confirmed his name and address.

Both men are charged under the 2023 National Security Act.

Essghir has been remanded in custody, while Abdulkarim has been granted bail with conditions including the surrender of his passport.

The case will be next heard at the Old Bailey on 20 November.

Two men have been re-arrested after an incident near RAF Fairford last month, counter-terrorism police have said.

A 24-year-old UK national, and a 25-year-old dual UK-Iranian national, are being held on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023, with police saying the investigation relates to Iran.

Police had been alerted to three suspicious vehicles near the US airbase in Gloucestershire in the early hours of 27 September – a major incident was subsequently declared and dozens of homes evacuated.

Seven men had initially been arrested as part of the counter-terror police investigation and were later released on bail.

Five men were found with petrol in three vans near the airbase – they were initially arrested on suspicion of committing offences under the Explosives Act and then further arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act.

The re-arrests announced on Tuesday relate to a 24-year-old man who was initially held on the 27 September near the base and a 25-year-old who was arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts days later on 1 October in Westminster.

The other five men remain on police bail.

The head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: “This is very much a live investigation, and our evidence gathering continues, but at this time our position remains the same; we consider it highly likely that there is Iranian state involvement.

“Our investigators are continuing to examine what that level of involvement was and the ambition behind it.”

The officer added that national security investigations can take time to progress due to their sensitive nature.

“Our specialist teams have been working tirelessly to interrogate the many lines of enquiry involved in this hugely complex investigation,” he said.

Following the incident, Gloucestershire Police said it had received a call about “three suspicious vehicles” travelling towards RAF Fairford at 00:45 BST.

A bomb disposal team was deployed to the village to examine a number of vehicles, police said at the time.