Trump 'surprised' UK granted bail to suspects in alleged airbase terror plot

US President Donald Trump said Monday that British police should not have released on bail five men who were arrested near an airbase used by the United States over a suspected bomb plot.

Trump added that the case "might be" linked to Iran, but declined to give details.

Read moreUK police arrest 5 men, counter-terror squad probes ‘major incident’ near air base used by US forces

"I'm surprised that they released them, I wouldn't have done that," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, while adding that British authorities had worked "very closely" with the United States.

"We know everything about them. We would not have released them."

The five men were arrested early Sunday near the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford base in southwest England, from which US bombers have taken off to target Iran since March.

Expert says UK airbase plot 'fits into a very intense pattern we've been seeing in past two months'

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British counter-terrorism police announced on Monday that the five men – all London-based Britons in their mid-20s – had been freed on bail, and that officers were probing whether a "foreign state" could be involved.

Asked whether the case was linked to Iran, Trump replied: "It might be."

Pressed to give details, Trump said: "I'd rather not. I mean I know the answer, I could be very specific, but I'd rather not say. I would not have released them."