How RAF Fairford 'bomb plot' narrative fell apart as US and UK made competing claims

How RAF Fairford 'bomb plot' narrative fell apart as US and UK made competing claims

Submitted by Imran Mulla on Tue, 09/29/2026 - 14:09 The five men arrested were released on bail but Trump said 'we had them under view for a long time' Armed police outside the RAF Fairford base in Gloucestershire, south-west England, 28 September 2026 (AFP) Off

On Monday morning it was widely reported that what seemed to be a major planned terrorist attack on an American base in Britain had been narrowly averted.

Five men were arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences near RAF Fairford, the base from which US bombers have attacked Iranian missile sites, on Sunday morning.

The incident was widely reported to be an apparent foiled bomb plot.

Barrels were found in three vans near the base which newspapers suggested may have contained homemade explosives.

Indicating the seriousness of the situation, Prime Minister Andy Burnham held a Cobra meeting on Monday afternoon.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage declared that, “Fairford proves my point on Iran and the IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp].” 

Farage continued: “I have warned repeatedly over the years that the IRGC should be a proscribed organisation. 

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"Over the course of this year, I had intelligence that told me that the Iranian regime was using the boats crossing the channel to get their operatives into Britain, that literally we were allowing people to come in who may end up killing many of our own people.”

Soon an American narrative emerged that the US and the UK had worked together investigating the men.

US President Donald Trump declared on Sunday: “It was fantastic. Working with Britain, it was an amazing job.”

“We had them under investigation,” the president continued. 

“They were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great.

“It may have been Scotland Yard, I don’t know. We worked with a lot of them. We had them under view for a long time, and we got them. Thank you.”

Suspects released on bail

But within hours, the idea that a major terrorist plot had been foiled started to fall apart.

The arrested men were all British nationals in their twenties, not foreigners as Farage had speculated.

Moreover they were released on police bail, not even going before a judge. As Nazir Afzal, a former chief prosecutor, pointed out, this indicated the men are not suspected of terrorism.

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But Farage posted on X: “How is it that Danny Tommo sits in a cell while five suspected terrorists are out on bail? 

“Is this two-tier Britain, or am I missing something?”

Danny Tommo refers to Daniel Thomas, an anti-migrant activist accused of criminal damage over the alleged slashing of a dinghy in the English Channel, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

It was also revealed on Monday afternoon that there were no viable explosives in the three white vans found east of the base and examined by the police. 

Counter Terrorism Policing said officers were exploring “multiple lines of inquiry”, including that "this may be activity committed by proxies, or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state".

Whitehall officials have said the incident was not an “intelligence-led operation”. Such operations involve CTP and MI5 tracking suspects and arresting them before they commit a crime. 

'We know everything about them'

But the US president had claimed “we have had these men under view for a long time”.

And after they were released on bail, Trump doubled down on this, expressing surprise the men were released.

“We know everything about them, we would not have released them,” he said, and repeated that the UK had worked “very closely” with the US on the issue.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said: “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 involves the hands of a foreign actor.”

Meanwhile, the Iranian embassy in London condemned what it called “unfounded and malicious speculations” linking Iran to the incident, saying this would “serve no purpose other than to fuel Iranophobia propaganda in the UK”.

Prime Minister Burnham has urged people “not to speculate while the authorities establish the full facts”. 

But the British public is now being confronted with entirely contradictory narratives from official UK sources and the American government.

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