British citizen of Iranian origin arrested in UK airport incident

A British man of Iranian origin has been arrested by police in connection with a security breach at RAF Fairford airbase in Gloucestershire, UK. The 27-year-old man is a dual citizen of the UK and Iran.

He was arrested in the Westminster area of ​​central London. Security forces searched two other locations in the same area.

Earlier, British police announced that a second person was being questioned in the incident.

Meanwhile, five people arrested on charges of possible sabotage at the air base remain on bail. They are all London residents and British citizens.

A major security operation was launched on Sunday (September 27) after three suspicious vehicles were seen heading towards the US Air Force-run Fairford base. Five people were later arrested. They were released on bail the next day.

Vicky Evans, senior national coordinator for the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism unit, said in a statement: "The investigation into the Gloucestershire incident is extremely complex and our specialist teams are looking at multiple aspects of the investigation."

"We have already made it clear that we are considering all possible aspects - including the involvement of a foreign state," he said.
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were strong indications of Iranian involvement in the alleged security incident.

Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the incident, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responding strongly to Burnham's allegations, saying the British authorities were taking the wrong path.

Source: Al Jazeera