Marco Rubio Hints That Iran May Have Been Behind RAF Fairford 'Terror Plot'

Marco Rubio has hinted that Iran was behind a suspected terror plot at an RAF base used by the American military.

The US Secretary of State said that “a foreign actor” was behind the incident, which saw five men arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and terrorism on Sunday after three suspicious vans were spotted near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

The men, who were all British citizens from London, were released on bail on Monday, and investigations are continuing.

Security at the base, which has been used by the Americans to bomb Iran, has been stepped up in recent days.

Donald Trump criticised the decision to release the five men from custody, saying “I wouldn’t have done that”.

Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Rubio said: “There’s a lot of things I cannot say on the air for a lot of different reasons, but 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 involved the hands of a foreign actor. I won’t get into great detail about that yet.

“I do want to thank the authorities in the United Kingdom, who have been very co-operative and on top of it.

“A lot of people are disturbed by the news that some of these people have been released on bail ... obviously we are engaging with them on all of that, but suffice it to say  that beyond that I would argue that they have been very co-operative and very helpful on a very serious incident.”

Rubio then went on to specifically mention Iranian threats against the US, although he did not say they were definitely behind the incident.

He added: “We are dealing with elements in the world, in the case of Iran for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally.

“We’re going to always take that very seriously. There will be repercussions for that.”

In a statement issued by the Iranian embassy in the UK on Monday, Tahran vehemently denied any involvement in the RAF Fairford incident.

The UK government has refused to speculate on the cause or motive for what happened. 

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