Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday night that a suspected terror plot near RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor,” while declining to identify who was behind the incident.
Speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News, Rubio described what happened near the air base, which is used by the U.S. military, as a serious threat and indicated that additional information would become public in the coming days.
“Well, let me preface by saying that I have to be careful. There’s some things I cannot say on the air for a lot of different reasons,” Rubio said.
“Suffice it to say that what happened, what almost happened, what could have happened in the UK over the weekend is a very serious situation. It’s one that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor. I won’t get into great detail about that yet.”
Rubio’s comments represent a more definitive assessment of foreign involvement than British authorities have publicly offered. UK Counter Terrorism Policing said Monday that investigators were keeping an open mind while examining whether proxies or individuals knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state were involved.
As the Pavlovic Today reported, five British men in their 20s were arrested early Sunday near RAF Fairford after police received a report of three suspicious vehicles traveling toward the air base. They were initially detained on suspicion of offenses under the Explosives Act and later on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act. All five were released on police bail Monday under what authorities described as stringent restrictions on their movements and contact with others. They remain under investigation.
Rubio acknowledged concerns over the decision to release the suspects but praised British authorities for their cooperation with Washington.
“I know a lot of people are disturbed by the news that some of these people have been released on bail as – some of the people are being investigated, and obviously we’re engaging with them on all of that,” Rubio said.
“But suffice it to say that beyond that, I would argue that they’ve been very cooperative and very helpful on something that’s a very serious incident.”
Rubio did not directly accuse Iran of involvement. But he immediately placed the incident in the context of threats against American interests by Tehran.
“And I think it ties us to the reality here, and that is we are dealing with elements in the world – and in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally,” Rubio said.
“We’re going to always take that very seriously; there will be repercussions for that if it ever were to happen or even attempted.”
RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire has been used by U.S. bombers during military operations against Iran. British investigators are examining possible foreign-state involvement in the incident, while Iran’s embassy in London has categorically denied any connection.
President Donald Trump earlier Monday said the incident “might be” connected to Iran and criticized the decision to release the suspects, telling reporters, “I wouldn’t have done that.”
Rubio, however, suggested that U.S. officials possess additional information that has not yet been made public.
“There’s a lot more news that will come out on this in the days to come, but there’s only so much I can say right now at this point about it other than this is a very serious thing and it was responded to appropriately,” he said.
RAF Fairford Terror Probe: Five British Men Arrested Near U.S. Air Force Base
Five men arrested in a suspected explosives plot near RAF Fairford are all British nationals in their 20s from London, counterterrorism police said Monday, as investigators worked to establish a motive and cautioned against speculation about possible geopolitical connections. The disclosure provides new details about the suspects detained Sunday near the British military air base,…
