Two British men have been charged with national security offences following a major counter-terrorism police investigation into a September incident near the RAF Fairford airbase in Gloucestershire, with one accused of assisting Iranian intelligence.
Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, 24, faces a charge of assisting a foreign intelligence service in connection with the security alert near the base, which is operated by the US Air Force. Nouman Essghir, also 24, has been charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK on 22 August, a month prior to the September incident. Essghir, a British national residing in Westminster, was charged under Section 4 of the National Security Act 2023. Both men are scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
The charges stem from an incident on 27 September, when three suspicious vans were spotted near RAF Fairford. Although counter-terrorism officers found no explosive materials inside the vehicles, police seized a quantity of petrol. Following the discovery, authorities established a massive security cordon around the airbase that remained in place for several days.
Essghir was initially arrested at the scene near the Gloucestershire airbase on 27 September before being re-arrested on 20 October. Interviews with Abdulkarim were subsequently conducted by detectives following the October re-arrests. In total, eight men have been detained as part of the broader counter-terrorism investigation. Among them were five British nationals from London who were apprehended near the base in September on suspicion of Explosives Act violations, and later further arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism. Six individuals currently remain on police bail.
A 25-year-old UK-Iranian national was also re-arrested on 20 October on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, but has since been released without charge. He continues to be on police bail linked to his original arrest on 1 October on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terror policing, stated that officers have observed "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 security incident at RAF Fairford.
RAF Fairford has operated as a key forward location for the US Air Force for decades. In recent months, the US deployed B-1 and B-52 strategic bombers from the base to conduct operations in the Middle East, following approval from the UK government for defensive strikes against Iranian targets. However, following the September security incident, the United States withdrew its bombers from the base and flew them back to America. US President Donald Trump commented that the warplanes were relocated due to "some threats" directed at the base, though he provided no specific details.
