Two Britons charged in connection with assisting Iran over U.K. airbase incident

Two British nationals have been charged under the U.K.’s National Security Act in connection with an incident at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford airbase on September 27, 2026. Nouman Essghir, 24, and Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, 24, from London, were charged and scheduled to appear in court this week.

Also Read | U.S. Air Force removes all bombers from British air base targeted by a suspected terror attack Mr. Abdulkarim was arrested for allegedly assisting a foreign intelligence service. The country was believed to be Iran, according to Laurence Taylor, the Head of the U.K.’s National Counterterrorism Policing unit.

Tehran has denied involvement with the incident. Five men were arrested as they approached the air base in three vans on September 27. This resulted in the evacuation of residents in the air base area in Gloucestershire.

Also Read | U.K. PM Burnham says Iran’s IRGC likely behind RAF Fairford incident Essghir was initially released on bail before being re-arrested last week. Abdulkarim was arrested in the past week. Six other men have been arrested and released on bail as investigations continue.

British authorities have linked Tehran to the incident, which led the U.S. to pull its bombers from RAF Fairford. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that the apparent plot was “almost certainly” directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Iran has denied involvement, although it has previously said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target. Also Read | U.K. police arrest five for preparing ‘terrorist act’ as incident near air base probed The suspects were subsequently released on police bail, which led to criticism from U.S.

President Donald Trump. An Iranian-British dual national was later arrested (and released on police bail) in early October. Following the incident, the U.S. had removed its 12 B-1 Bombers , used in its strikes on Iran, from the airbase.