LONDON: A seventh man was arrested Tuesday over a major incident last month at a British military airbase used by the United States to launch strikes on Iran, police said.
The arrest came a day after President Donald Trump said the United States had withdrawn all B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford because of “threats” he believed were linked to Tehran.
A 22-year-old British male was arrested in London “on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts”, Britain’s Counter-Terrorism Policing network said in a statement.
Six men in their 20s have already been arrested and released on bail after three suspicious vans were stopped near the base in southwest England on September 27.
One is a UK-Iranian dual national. None have been charged.
The incident was declared “major” by British authorities and triggered the evacuation of a nearby village.
But the source and nature of the threat have remained shrouded in mystery.
Investigators did not find any explosives in the vans, but did recover some petrol, according to officials.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there were “strong indications that Iran played a part” in the incident, which Tehran has rejected.
Britain gave Washington permission in March to use Fairford for “specific defensive operations into Iran,” and US bombers and other planes have since been seen taking off and landing at the base.
Trump, who has rebuked British authorities for bailing the suspects, said Monday that the planes had been redeployed because “there were some threats”.
“We actually know the people that made the threat,” he said, adding: “They would be linked to Iran.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sought to play down any specific threat, however.
The UK government insists that the base is safe.
Adding intrigue are UK media reports that officers were alerted to the incident by one of the initial suspects, although police have not commented on this.
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