Two men charged over alleged Iran-linked plot targeting RAF Fairford appear in Westminster court

Nouman Essghir stood in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday in a grey sweatshirt and confirmed his name and address. Beside the proceedings, in a separate appearance, Mohmed Abdulkarim came in a wheelchair, wearing a checked shirt, jeans and a baseball cap, and did the same. Both men are 24, both are British nationals, and both live in Westminster, London. Both are charged under the 2023 National Security Act in connection with an alleged Iran-linked plot at RAF Fairford.

Abdulkarim is charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, which police earlier said they believed to be Iran. Essghir is charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK. That charge relates to 22 August, which the court heard was an alleged reconnaissance mission around a month before the incident at the Gloucestershire airbase.

The incident itself came on 27 September, when a major incident was declared after three suspicious vans were seen near the US-operated base. The court heard the vans carried the logo "Fuel2You". In the early hours they met a Ministry of Defence Police cordon and re-routed to another location. Police then arrived and arrested five men. It was later revealed that one of them had called 999 and reported what was happening.

Dozens of residents were evacuated and a large cordon was set up around the base. Police found no explosive materials in the vans, but they did seize a quantity of petrol.

The five men were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, and later on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. All were released on police bail the following day. Essghir was re-arrested on 20 October. A 25-year-old UK-Iranian national, first arrested on 1 October on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, was also re-arrested that day on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service. He has now been released without charge, though he remains on police bail. The October re-arrests led detectives to interview Abdulkarim. In all, eight men have been arrested in the counter-terror investigation.

At the hearing, Essghir was remanded in custody. Abdulkarim was granted bail with conditions, including surrendering his passport. The case will next be heard at the Old Bailey on 20 November.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor acknowledged that releasing the five men on bail in September had prompted significant questions and speculation among the public. He said counter-terror tactics can look "illogical" at times, but that "there will always be a good reason or rationale behind them". In this case, he said, the decision-making had led to swifter progress, better evidence and the charges now announced. US President Donald Trump said at the time he was "surprised" the men had been released: "We would not have released them." Taylor said police had seen "a range of incidents in recent months that we believe have been directed by the Iranian state". Iran has previously denied any involvement in the Fairford incident.

The base has been a forward operating location for the US Air Force for decades. In recent months the US flew B-1 and B-52 bombers from it to the Middle East, after the UK approved a request to use it for defensive strikes against Iran. After the September incident, the US pulled its bombers out and returned them to America. Trump said they were removed because of "some threats" to the base, without giving details. The Old Bailey hearing on 20 November is the next point at which the case will move forward.