U.K. charges 2 men linked to alleged terror plot against air base

London — Two men have been charged with serious security offenses in Britain after being arrested in connection with the incident last month near RAF Fairford, the air base in England that had been used by the U.S. military to launch strikes on Iran, the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Tuesday.

Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, and Nouman Essghir, 24, both British nationals and London residents, were charged under the 2023 National Security Act. 

Abdulkarim was charged with "assisting a foreign intelligence service" in September and "engaging in conduct that was likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out U.K.-related activities."

The CPS said Essghir was charged with a national security offense after he "approached or was in the vicinity of a prohibited place and his conduct was for a purpose that he knew, or having regards to other matters known to him ought reasonably to have known, was prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom."

Both men were arrested last week on suspicion of assisting Iran's intelligence service in a suspected plot targeting the Fairford air base in England. 

Abdulkarim was arrested by Counter Terror Police under the National Security Act last week, along with another 25-year-old man — a British-Iranian dual national who was released on bail pending further investigation.

Police are still investigating a suspected terror plot against Fairford after five men were initially detained on Sept. 27 near the base in western England. All five of those men were also released on bail, but police said they remained under investigation and would be monitored.

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the government believes Iran "played a part" in the incident at the base, which prompted the U.S. Air Force to remove all of its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford. The base had been home to U.S. long-range bombers for many years, and it was used during the war with Iran to launch strikes on the Islamic Republic. 

Residents of a nearby town were evacuated from their homes near the base as armed police and bomb-disposal experts searched the area on Sept. 27. They found gasoline in three vans that had been driven by the five initial suspects, parked close to an entrance to the base, but no explosives.

Iranian officials have said repeatedly that any bases used to attack the country would be considered legitimate targets. The Iranian Embassy in London, however, said in a previous statement 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.

Police said Tuesday that six men remain free on bail in relation to the incident, four of whom were arrested on Sept. 27 — all U.K. nationals and London residents in their 20s — and two others who were detained subsequently, including the 25-year-old dual U.K.-Iranian national who was detained on Oct. 1.