Seven arrested men bailed in suspected RAF Fairford terror plot investigation

Seven men in their 20s were bailed under an inquiry into an RAF Fairford base incident. The move follows arrests tied to a suspected scheme against the site in western England. The first 155 characters cover the arrests and site. Detectives continue to investigate the matter.

The head of Britain’s MI5 spy agency, Ken McCallum, delivered a speech on Tuesday. He said Iran is trying to hit military sites in the U.K. McCallum said the suspected plot is “not unique.”

McCallum said Tehran seeks to intensify attacks beyond traditional targets of Iranian dissidents. That activity included arson and sabotage attacks on Jewish sites. Britain says Iranian proxies carried out those acts.

McCallum noted a change in strategy. “A major shift this year has been Iranian ambitions to come at harder targets, like military sites,” he said.

The incident at RAF Fairford is not an isolated event, McCallum said. Other examples exist in the U.K. and worldwide. The base had been used to bomb Iran during this year’s war.

Scores of residents evacuated their homes near the base on Sept. 27. Armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swarmed the rural area. Police found gasoline in three vans at the site. They found no explosives.

British authorities linked Tehran to the incident. The event led the U.S. to pull bombers from RAF Fairford. Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke on Monday. Burnham said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard “almost certainly” directed the apparent plot.

Iran has denied involvement. It previously labeled bases used against its territory as legitimate targets.

McCallum said the agency’s work countering state threats quadrupled over the past decade. The threats stem chiefly from Russia, Iran and China. Both Russia and Iran are expanding hybrid warfare campaigns against Britain, he said.

Artificial intelligence is changing security work. McCallum said plotters used artificial intelligence for reconnaissance and attacks. These tools include AI-enabled drones. He warned of bioweapon risks.

“One risk is that AI could enable dangerous knowledge to get into the hands of people we would all rather didn’t have that knowledge,” he said. “A second and different risk … is the possibility that AI could generate novel pathogens not previously seen.”

MI5 established an AI Threat Assessment Center. The facility works to track emerging threats.

Bail allows individuals released from custody to remain free under conditions while an investigation continues. RAF Fairford operates as a military air station in Gloucestershire that supports allied operations. MI5 functions as Britain’s domestic counter-intelligence and security agency.

Detectives continue to gather evidence regarding the activity discovered near RAF Fairford.