×

Two men charged in UK with helping Iran over RAF Fairford incident

By Thomson Reuters Oct 27, 2026 | 4:17 AM

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) – British prosecutors said on Tuesday they had charged two men under the ​National Security Act over ‌an incident last month at the RAF Fairford airbase, with police saying the two were suspected of assisting Iran.

RAF Fairford ‌had ​been used by ⁠US bombers to carry ⁠out strikes on Iran, but they were withdrawn on security grounds shortly after five British men ​were arrested outside the military base in southwest England in ⁠the early hours of ⁠September 27.

The Crown Prosecution ​Service said it had charged Mohmed Abdulkarim, ​24, with engaging in conduct ‌that was likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service.

Nouman Essghir, 24, was charged with one offence ⁠of entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK on August ⁠22. ‌The pair will appear ⁠in court later on Tuesday.

Assistant ​Commissioner ‌Laurence Taylor, Head of ​National Counter ⁠Terrorism Policing in the UK, said police believed the country Abdulkarim was assisting was Iran.

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti and Sam Tobin; Editing by ​Kate Holton)