Civilian staff at a UK airbase at the centre of a terror investigation had been removed days before masked men were seen nearby, according to a farmer who raised the alarm.
Five men have been arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act and explosive offences after the farmer, who was returning from a party early on Sunday, saw “three suspicious vans” travelling towards the base in Gloucestershire.
The farmer, who wanted to remain anonymous, rang police and within 10 minutes the village was “full of armed police”, she said on Monday.
The base is used by the US Air Force, which has since March been using it for aircraft to launch attacks on Iran.
US President Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that US and UK authorities had been working together and “had these men under view for a long time”. He said the suspects were “looking to do big damage to our fort”.
Counterterrorism police have taken charge of the operation and it is understood one line of inquiry is possible Iranian involvement.
An attack on Fairford would probably have involved either a vehicle bomb or drones sent out from the vans, similar to the “spider's web” operation Ukraine conducted against Russian bombers last year, a counterterrorism expert told The National.
The “finger of suspicion” clearly pointed towards Iran, said Philip Ingram, but Russian involvement could not be ruled out given the spate of Moscow’s operations against European airbases over the past year.
The farmer said she was aware RAF Fairford was operating at high-security level and that “civilian staff had been evacuated”.
When her journey home was blocked by the vans, she was forced to turn around.
“We had noticed some activity from what I assumed were plain-clothed police officers for the previous few days, so initially I thought this was more of the same,” she told the BBC.
At that point she saw hooded and masked men running in front of her vehicle and called police, then alerted members of a village WhatsApp group.
“I think it was pure luck that I arrived in the village at a similar time to the vans,” she said. “I am absolutely staggered that it was left to me, as a member of the public, to see and report this
“The airbase was operating a roadblock close to the entrance but not on any of the other roads. But we assumed someone would be monitoring the roads around the base and taking regular patrols.
“Clearly this was not happening and I believe that my 999 call foiled whatever plans they had. I’m just really keen to highlight that it appears someone really dropped the ball on this.”
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the farmer had a “partial picture” of what has been happening at the base. “I won’t go beyond that in terms of commenting on operational security matters,” he said.
He refused to comment on whether there was any link between the arrested men and Iran. He said the investigation was “well under way” and thanked the public for showing “vigilance” and “forbearance”.
Mr Ingram said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are primary suspects because RAF Fairford had been used to attack Iran.
“But we cannot rule out other actors,” he added. “Russia and Iran work closely together, especially over transfer of technical knowledge, and we’ve seen Russian drone activity intensify.
“There is a great probability that these five [men arrested] will be proxies carrying out nefarious activities for the IRGC or Moscow, giving them plausible deniability”.
Mr Ingram did not discount the organisations such as Palestine Action – currently designated a terrorist group by the British government – being used as a proxy.
The former British military intelligence operative added that the head of MI5 had recently disclosed that the domestic security service was tracking a number of Iranian threats.
Counterterrorism officers will be also attempting to identify if there were “threats against other US bases or other targets in the UK”.
Under counterterrorism laws, the suspects can be held for a maximum 14 days without charge.
Mr Ingram suggested the surveillance operation had been ongoing for some time but it was likely the arrests were “triggered” by the farmer calling police.
