Two charged over alleged Iran plot

October 28, 2026

2 minutes read

Armed police maintain roadblocks and security checks around RAF Fairford in England

TWO British nationals have been charged with national security offences over an incident at RAF Fairford in September, with one suspected of assisting Iran’s intelligence service.

Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, 24, has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service following the incident near the airbase in Gloucestershire.

Nouman Essghir, also 24, has been charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK, relating to an incident on August 22. Both men were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Three suspicious vans were seen near the US-operated airbase on September 27.

No explosive materials were found in the vans by police, but a quantity of petrol was seized. A large cordon was put up around the base for several days afterwards.

Head of counter-terrorism policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, said Essghir, a British national from Westminster, had been charged under Section 4 of the National Security Act 2023.

He was arrested at the scene near RAF Fairford on September 27 and re-arrested on October 20.

A 25-year-old UK-Iranian national, who was also re-arrested on that date on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, has since been released without charge. He remains on police bail following his initial arrest on October 1 on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.

The re-arrests in October led detectives to interview Abdulkarim.

Eight men have been arrested as part of the counter-terrorism police investigation. This includes five British nationals from London who were arrested near the airbase in September on suspicion of committing offences under the Explosives Act before being further arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. Six men remain on police bail.

Assistant Commissioner Taylor said counter-terrorism police had seen “a range of incidents in recent months that we believe have been directed by the Iranian state”.

Iran has previously denied any involvement in the incident at RAF Fairford.

The base has been used as a forward operating location by the US Air Force (USAF) for decades.

In recent months, the US has flown B-1 and B-52 bombers from the base to the Middle East after the UK approved a request for it to be used for defensive strikes against Iran.

Following the September incident, the US withdrew its bombers from the base and returned them to America.

US President Donald Trump said the aircraft had been removed because of “some threats” to the base, without providing specific details.

— BBC

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