U.S. had British terrorism suspects under surveillance for ‘a long time,’ Trump says
by Susan Ferrechio, Ben Wolfgang · The Washington TimesBritish authorities arrested five men Sunday in the southwest England village of Whelford in an alleged terrorist bomb plot near a key military base used by American forces to launch airstrikes against Iran.
The men were arrested on “suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act,” British police said. President Trump said the U.S. worked with British police to capture the men.
It was not immediately clear whether the men had links to terrorist organizations, nor was there any early indication they were connected to Iran or sympathetic to the regime in Tehran.
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Still, the incident happened at a delicate moment in the U.S.-Iran conflict and will raise new questions about whether Iran is targeting U.S. military facilities far from the Middle East. Top Iranian military officials recently warned of such a strategy, saying Iran would expand the scope of the battlefield if the U.S. launched further attacks.
Mr. Trump indicated that the men had been under surveillance by both Washington and London.
“We had them under investigation for a long time, and working with the British worked out great. It was an amazing job,” the president told reporters after stepping off Air Force One in Chicago. “They were looking to do big damage to our fort.”
Counter Terrorism Policing said the arrests followed a call at 12:45 a.m. alerting them to three suspicious vans heading toward RAF Fairford, a military installation about 2 miles from Whelford and a site the U.S. military has used to launch airstrikes against Iran.
Aerial footage from Britain’s Sky News appeared to show a bomb disposal robot moving among three white vans in the area. The rear doors of two of the vans were open, and large black items were scattered around. The robot appeared to be working to gain access to the third van.
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The Fairford base hosts several key U.S. military units. The 501st Combat Support Wing, which oversees multiple geographically separated units across the United Kingdom, is headquartered there. The 420th Air Base Squadron, which falls under the 422nd Air Base Group, is also based at Fairford.
Britain’s defense secretary, Wes Streeting, said it was too early to speculate on possible Iranian involvement.
“I’m not going to comment on the underlying motivations of those who’ve been arrested today, or indeed the, sort of, the genesis of their activity,” he said. “I think it’s far too early to comment or speculate, and it would be irresponsible for me to do so.”
Vicki Evans, deputy assistant commissioner and national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said authorities were working to better understand the intentions of the five men.
“We are in the early stages of an investigation, and five men remain in custody. As you would expect, we are working closely with our partners to understand the circumstances of the incident,” Ms. Evans said.
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Ms. Evans said about 85 households were evacuated as a precaution.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force said its personnel based at RAF Fairford “remain vigilant” but would not discuss specific force protection measures for security reasons.
“We constantly assess a variety of factors that determine what measures we institute or modify to protect our installations, our people and their families,” the spokesperson told The Associated Press.
Under a U.S.-Britain agreement, the American military has been authorized to use Fairford to strike Iranian missile sites used to target ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
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British security officials say proxies linked to Iran have been behind a string of arson and sabotage attempts in Britain and other countries, many of them targeting the Jewish community. They have previously warned that Tehran could expand its targets in Britain if conflicts in the Middle East continue.
Recent comments from top Iranian military officials suggest that Tehran is actively looking for new U.S. targets.
Iranian Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, a spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said last week that his country is prepared to employ new tactics if Mr. Trump launches airstrikes on Iran.
“If another aggression takes place, there will certainly be significant changes in our defense and our counterattack,” Gen. Mohebbi said, according to Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency.
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“We will certainly change the weaponry and the geography of the war,” he said, according to English-language translations of his comments.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
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Susan Ferrechio
sferrechio@washingtontimes.com
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Ben Wolfgang
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