By Sam Tabahriti and Phil Stewart
LONDON/WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) – British police arrested a 22-year-old British man in London on Tuesday as part of an investigation into a suspected plot that US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said involved a potential Iranian drone attack on a key airbase.
Counter Terrorism Policing said the man was arrested in Westminster on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts. He remains in custody.
Six men in their 20s, arrested previously in connection with the investigation, including a dual British-Iranian national arrested on October 1, have been released on bail.
The US officials told Reuters the US decided to remove its B-1 bomber aircraft from the base, RAF Fairford, over concerns about a suspected Iranian plot to carry out a complex drone attack on the facility.
While B-1 bombers are not permanently stationed there, RAF Fairford is the preferred European base for US bombers and has been used in strikes on Iran during the ongoing war, launched at the end of February.
Iran has denied any involvement in any alleged plot.
A spokesperson for the US military’s European Command declined to comment, saying: “It is inappropriate to discuss matters of intelligence, and we will not discuss specific force protection measures.”
“As demonstrated across multiple operations, America’s bombers, including B-1s, B-2s, and B-52s — can deliver precision global strike capabilities – including through operations that launch and recover from the continental United States – anywhere, anytime,” the spokesperson said.
LIVE INVESTIGATION
Police said on Tuesday they searched a property in the Westminster area but offered no further details on what they may have found.
“This remains a live investigation and our specialist teams continue to pursue multiple lines of enquiry into the circumstances surrounding events near RAF Fairford,” Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing Vicki Evans said on Tuesday.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump acknowledged that a threat linked to Iran had prompted the removal of American B-1 bombers from the base, but offered no details on the kind of threat.
“We had an idea that there might be a threat, and why would I leave them there? It costs very little money to move them,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “So we had a threat, and if we’re going to be threatened, we just move them, and that sort of alleviates that. And we actually know the people that made the threat.”
When asked if they were linked to Iran, Trump responded: “They would be linked to Iran.”
Fairford, located 90 miles (145 km) west of London, is one of the most important European bases for the US, being one of only a few suitable for heavy bombers such as the B-1 aircraft. It has played a key role in previous US campaigns in the Middle East.
STRAINS IN US-UK TIES
During the current conflict, the US had permission to use Fairford only to strike Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz, or what London called defensive strikes. London had refused permission for the US to use British bases for offensive strikes on Iran.
That approach has strained ties between the US and Britain, typically one of Washington’s closest allies.
A Pentagon official confirmed on Sunday that all US bombers that had been deployed to Fairford had headed to their home stations in the US.
The Pentagon said the US bomber force remained ready to deliver precision global strike capabilities “anywhere, anytime”.
In the early hours of September 27, five British men in their 20s were arrested after being seen running into fields from three white vans parked near the base. Police said no explosive devices were found but a quantity of petrol was present. A sixth man, a dual UK-Iranian national, was arrested four days later.
Trump has said he would not have released the suspects on bail.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti in London and Phil Stewart in Washington; additional reporting by Sarah Young in London; Editing by Kate Holton and Sanjeev Miglani)
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