Counter-terror police arrest seventh man in Westminster over alleged Iran-linked RAF Fairford 'bomb plot'
From the Newshound archive · first published 6 October 2026.
US bombers take off from RAF Fairford, home to a quarter of America's entire B-1 fleet — 12 aircraft each worth over $300 million and now effectively irreplaceable — withdrawn after intelligence revealed a "complex…Five terror suspects arrested near RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire base from which B-1 bombers were withdrawn after PM Andy Burnham said Iran "played a part" in the alleged van bomb plot.
A 22-year-old British national has been arrested in Westminster on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, becoming the seventh person detained in the investigation into the alleged plot near RAF Fairford. Counter-terror officers also searched a property in the same area. All six previously arrested men — including a dual British-Iranian national held on 1 October — remain on police bail, with no one yet charged. Senior National Coordinator Vicki Evans said police are working "around the clock" to identify the motivation behind events in Gloucestershire.
Intelligence sources believe Iran was attempting to recruit British nationals to launch a coordinated multi-drone attack on the base, modelled on Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb.
Trump confirmed US B-1 bombers were pulled from Fairford due to 'some threats', saying 'they didn't fly out by accident', while Iran's embassy has denied any involvement.
The alleged plot centres on three white vans stopped near the base on 27 September; police found petrol but no explosives, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards had previously declared Fairford a 'legitimate target' in July.
