The highest-ranking leaders in Washington have been speaking freely about their concerns following the bust of a suspected terrorist plot near a joint air base in England, but British authorities are warning that “international commentary” is unnecessarily heightening public fears.
Five British nationals ranging in age from 23 to 25 were arrested on Sunday under suspicion of a terrorist plot near the Royal Air Force Fairford Base outside Gloucestershire. The arrests generated massive amounts of headlines on both sides of the Atlantic, and many were confused when the suspects were released on bail the next day. British authorities are now reporting that no explosives were found at the scene.
White House officials are characterizing the situation as an attempted terrorist attack by a hostile foreign power — and British investigators are expressing frustration with the spectacle it’s causing.
“I … recognize, having monitored the media, that there is a lot of speculation. This is a significant operation and really worrying for lots of people — I completely understand that. And, of course, this is heightened by the international commentary that we are seeing,” head of national counterterrorism policing in the United Kingdom, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said at a Tuesday press conference.
The remark seemed to refer to high-profile comments offered by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“It’s [an incident] that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor,” Rubio said in an interview on Monday, though he said he “won’t get into great detail about that yet.”
“I think it ties us to the reality here, and that is we are dealing with elements in the world — and in the case of Iran, for example — who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally,” he added. “We’re going to always take that very seriously, there will be repercussions for that if it ever were to happen or even attempted.”
Rubio said that British authorities have been “cooperative” and “helpful” as the matter is investigated, but Trump expressed disagreement on Monday with the U.K.’s decision to release the suspects on bail.
“I’m surprised that they released them. I wouldn’t have done that,” Trump said, claiming, “We know everything about them.”
The president initially suggested Iran “might be” involved, but when asked for an explanation, said he would “rather not.”
Tehran has fiercely rejected all claims that the five men have ties to the Islamic Republic, saying Iran “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations.”
Approximately 85 households near the base were evacuated after a local farmer encountered a large group of men near three vans meandering in the area.
The farmer said the men panicked and ran in different directions when she approached them in her vehicle and she reported the incident to authorities — sparking the manhunt that ultimately arrested them. The farmer maintains there were more than just five men at the scene when she approached them.
Taylor announced at the Tuesday press conference that investigators did not find any improvised explosives in their search of the vans, but said they had “found a quantity of an excellent — petrol.”
Notably, the suspects’ vans were branded with fake logos and phone numbers for a non-existent fuel company.
The release of the five suspects indicates that they are not perceived as an immediate danger to the public and implies that evidence has not been found linking them to a terrorist plot. But British counterterrorism police say the suspects are “subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others” and “absolutely remain under investigation” as they “explore multiple lines of inquiry.”
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood characterized the incident as a foiled terrorist attack on Monday when she said the area was “now safe,” announcing, “To all those who mean us harm and plot violence on our soil, let this be a reminder you will never defeat us.”
Wild speculation from the public and elected politicians has not helped the confusion surrounding the incident.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage initially attempted to link the suspects to the issue of illegal migrants sneaking into the country via small boats, his party’s signature issue.
“I have been warning both in and out of Parliament for many months about Iranian agents coming into the UK via small boats across the Channel,” he said prior to the suspects being identified as British nationals. “We deserve to be told the truth about the Fairford bomb plotters’ identities.”
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Culture secretary Lisa Nandy dismissed Farage as a “master of the conspiracy theory” when asked about his comments on Monday.
Green Party baroness Jenny Jones told the Guardian that Farage’s “attempts to whip up division by scapegoating some of the world’s most vulnerable people has left him with egg on his face.”