Published on •Updated
Two men have been charged under the UK’s National Security Act following an incident near a military air base last month, police announced on Tuesday.
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The pair have been named as Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, 24, and Nouman Essghir, also 24.
It comes after five men were arrested near the RAF Fairford air base in Gloucestershire, South West England, in late September after police received reports of several suspicious vehicles in the area.
“Earlier this morning, Nouman Essghir, 24, a British national from the Borough of Westminster, London, was charged under Section 4 of the National Security Act 2023, for suspected activity on Saturday 22 August. He was first arrested at the scene in Gloucestershire on Sunday 27 September, and re-arrested on 20 October,” assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor, the head of UK National Counter Terrorism Policing, said in a statement shared on Tuesday.
He added that Abdulkarim “has been charged under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023, which makes it an offence to assist a foreign intelligence service.”
“In this case, we believe that country to be Iran,” Taylor said.
Both were due to appear in court on Tuesday.
Five other men arrested in connection with the case remain on police bail.
RAF Fairford is home to the US Air Force’s 501st Combat Support Wing headquarters and the 420th Air Base squadron. It has also served as the USAF Global Strike Command’s preferred bomber forward operating location in Europe.
In July, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it was aware that the base was being used by US bombers as part of Washington’s military operations against Iran and warned the UK that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces.”
The US has now withdrawn its bombers from Fairford, with President Donald Trump saying the decision had been made in response to “threats.”
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said earlier this month that the September incident was “almost certainly directed” by the IRGC.
