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Two British men have been charged with national security offenses over an incident last month at RAF Fairford, a British air base used by U.S. forces, with one accused of assisting Iranian intelligence, prosecutors and police said Tuesday.
Mohmed Abdulkarim and Nouman Essghir, both 24 and from London, were charged under the National Security Act 2023 after a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced.
Abdulkarim was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, allegedly Iran, while Essghir was charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the U.K.
Both were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
"The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute two individuals with National Security Act offenses following a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation into a high-profile incident involving RAF Fairford," said Frank Ferguson, chief Crown prosecutor for the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division.
"We will continue to work closely with our partners as this complex investigation continues," he added.
In the early hours of Sept. 27, police received a call about three suspicious vehicles apparently heading toward RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
A farmer returning home at around 1:36 a.m. reported seeing five men wearing balaclavas acting suspiciously near three white vans. Armed officers detained suspects at the scene less than half an hour later, and Army bomb-disposal specialists examined the vehicles.
Five British nationals, all in their 20s, were later arrested on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offenses and were bailed less than 24 hours later.
Essghir was one of two men re-arrested last week after first being arrested at the scene.
A 25-year-old U.K.-Iranian national was released without charge. Six other men arrested in the investigation remain on police bail.
"We have seen a range of incidents in recent months that we believe have been directed by the Iranian state, and as the director general of MI5 said just the other week, we are working together to intervene, identify and respond to that threat," said Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing.
"The public can help us with this, and as always, I would urge them to report anything that they’re worried about, those reports can and do make a difference," he said.
RAF Fairford hosted hundreds of U.S. military personnel at the time of the incident and has been used by U.S. bombers to launch strikes on Iran.
In July, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that any British base used to strike Tehran was a "legitimate target." British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the IRGC "almost certainly" orchestrated the plot.
The U.S. withdrew its bombers from the base earlier this month after its military became aware of a threatened Iran-backed plot against the facility.
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