Rubio: Foreign State Clearly Behind Alleged Plot at UK Air Base
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said a foreign government was evidently connected to an alleged plan to strike an American air base in the United Kingdom, calling the situation highly serious.
Speaking on Fox News on Monday, Rubio said the arrests a day earlier of five men over the suspected plot at RAF Fairford in England pointed to outside involvement. "It's one that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor," he told host Sean Hannity, adding that he would not provide further details at that time.
British police detained the five men — all British nationals in their twenties — near the base in Gloucestershire on explosives and terrorism allegations. The arrests followed a call from a local farmer who reported three suspicious vehicles close to the site late on Saturday night. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the white vans did not hold usable explosives.
President Donald Trump said the US federal government had cooperated with British authorities in carrying out the arrests, telling reporters on Sunday that the suspects had been "under view for a long time."
On Monday, officials freed the men on bail, a decision Trump criticised. "I'm surprised that they released them. I wouldn't have done that," he said in the Oval Office.
RAF Fairford, located in southern England, is owned by the UK and run by US forces. American B-52 and B-1 bombers have flown from the base as part of the US military campaign against Iran.
Iran's embassy in the UK denied any role in the incident. In a statement on Monday, it said it "categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations" about the Islamic Republic's possible involvement.
Throughout the seven-month conflict, Tehran has repeatedly warned countries that assist the US and has launched attacks on American bases across the Middle East.
Rubio said the episode at RAF Fairford "ties us to the reality" of the threats facing the United States. "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," he told Hannity.
He added: "We're going to always take that very seriously, there will be repercussions for that if it ever were to happen or even attempted."
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