UK says 'strong indication' Iran was involved in incident at air base housing US forces

“Obviously I wouldn’t say it lightly,” Burnham said. The UK prime minister noted the UK was working “closely” with colleagues in the US.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday the suspected terror plot “clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor,” after Trump said the suspects “might be” connected to Iran.

Iran has strongly denied any involvement and the Iranian embassy in London hit out at reports suggesting a link between Tehran and the incident, saying it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” of Iranian involvement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that the UK was “barking up the wrong tree.”Burnham’s comments come as questions about the incident – which triggered a major security response in the area and sparked international alarm – continue to swirl on both sides of the Atlantic.

Five men were arrested early Sunday on suspicion of explosive offenses and later terrorism charges near a Royal Air Force base at Fairford in western England, from where US B-1 bombers have been flying missions against Iran.

The men – identified only as British nationals between the ages of 23 and 25 and from London area – were quickly released on bail with police confirming no explosives were found in three vans at the scene.

Their release sparked criticism from US President Donald Trump, who said “I wouldn’t have done that.”Burnham on Wednesday sought to reassure both the British public and American authorities that he took the right decision on Wednesday, saying: “I think people need to understand that you know when it says released, that isn’t as people might think.

It’s obviously with the strictest possible bail conditions.”“We’ve been talking to counterparts in the United States all week to explain what is happening here, how things are being done,” he said, adding that he has “complete confidence” in how the security services are handling the case.

Legal experts say that bail is rarely given where there are serious grounds for suspecting terrorism offenses. Counter-terrorism laws in the UK allow police to hold suspects for up to 14 days before they are charged.

Trump has suggested the group was under surveillance. UK officials have been more circumspect, but residents near the base reported tighter security the day before the arrests. US Ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens praised both countries for their collaboration, saying they’re working together to “keep our citizens safe, at home and abroad.”A phone call and a farmer.

Earlier Wednesday, British media reported that one of the suspects in the alleged plot called the police shortly before they were arrested, deepening the mystery.

The Times and BBC both reported that the call from the suspect to 999, the emergency number used in Britain, came almost an hour before a female farmer alerted authorities after seeing a group of masked men and three white vans. The Times reported police were already on the scene when that later call from the local resident came in.

The paper added police were investigating whether the suspect got cold feet or whether making such a call was part of the plan. In their latest public statements, British police have indicated there may have been more than one trigger that sparked them into action.

“A police response was activated in the early hours of Sunday morning due to a range of information received, including a call from a member of the public about several vehicles acting suspiciously close to RAF Fairford,” Laurence Taylor, a senior counter-terrorism police officer,.

Taylor said “no improvised explosive devices were found” in vehicles used by the men, but that “a quantity of petrol was recovered.”The investigation remains ongoing, Burnham said.