The China Mail - UK police probes Iran link to air base bomb scare: media

Here's what we know about the thwarted incident near the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford base:

- What happened? -

Counter-terror police are leading the investigation after authorities were tipped off just after midnight on Sunday about three "suspicious" white vans appearing to head towards the air base in Gloucestershire, southwest England.

They arrested five men on suspicion of explosives offences, and later under suspicion of "preparing a terrorist act".

The men were in custody on Monday as police questioned them.

Authorities have not confirmed the details of the threat, which they said was "contained" Sunday evening, but bomb disposal experts were seen at work at the scene.

A local resident in the village on Whelford, near the air base, said she rang the police after seeing three white vans blocking a road as well as a group of masked men overnight on Sunday.

The woman, whose name has not been published, told the BBC on Monday that police had "dropped the ball" on the threat.

But UK defence minister Wes Streeting said the woman only had a "partial picture", implying police were aware of the situation before they were alerted.

Around 85 households were evacuated from the village early Sunday, and had to stay elsewhere overnight as a police cordon remained in place around the Whelford on Monday.

- What has Trump said? -

US President Donald Trump has given more information about the incident than UK authorities, saying the UK and US had the suspects "under investigation" for a while.

"They were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great," Trump said while on a visit to Chicago. "We had them under view for a long time, and we got them."

He later told reporters "we know all about them" when asked about the suspects, appearing to nod when asked if there was a connection to Iran.

"You'll be hearing about it very soon. We caught them," said Trump, without giving more details.

- Why RAF Fairford? -

In March, Britain gave the United States permission to use Fairford air base for "specific defensive operations into Iran" to destroy Iranian missiles at source.

Since then, US bombers and other planes have been seen taking off and landing from the airfield, which is the only one on British mainland used for this purpose.

Residents in the rural Cotswolds area surrounding Fairford said the base, which hosts a number of US military equipment and personnel, is usually quiet year-round, but it had seen increased activity and security in recent months since the US operation.

- Who was behind the incident? -

Although the origin of the threat is not yet publicly known, Tehran has previously warned London against allowing its bases to be used by the US in operations against Iran.

UK media reported that counter-terror police were looking into possible Iranian involvement as a line of inquiry in their probe.

In March, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused then UK prime minister Keir Starmer of "putting British lives in danger" by allowing the bases to be used "for aggression against Iran"

But Streeting said Monday he did not "want to speculate at this stage of the investigation", when asked whether it could be linked to a hostile state.

The UK interior ministry has previously accused Iran and Russia of using proxies to carry out criminal activities on their behalf on UK territory.

C.Fong--ThChM