RAF Fairford arrests: what police found in the vans and what remains unknown

What police found in the vans

The latest police update says forensic and other examinations of the three vans found no improvised explosive devices. Officers recovered an unspecified quantity of petrol. Their public account does not say how much was found or why it was there.

The petrol is a physical finding; an alleged intended use is not. Police have offered no public account of what the five men planned to do, if anything. Nor have they said that finding fuel establishes an explosives offense or a plan to attack the base.

RAF Fairford is owned by the United Kingdom and used by U.S. forces, including bombers during the war with Iran, The Associated Press reported. The base’s role does not, by itself, establish why the men were nearby or whether another country was involved.

The examination had immediate consequences for residents. Police cordoned off the vehicles, and people in about 85 nearby households were told to leave while Army specialists assessed the scene. The later finding that the vans held no improvised explosive devices does not erase that disruption, but it changes what can be said about the physical evidence.

What is known about the five men

Police received an initial report about vehicles near the base at 12:45 a.m. on Sept. 27. The men were arrested in Whelford, near RAF Fairford. Police now say their response drew on several pieces of information, including a member of the public’s report of suspicious vehicles; they have not said that one call alone drove the operation.

Police cited the Explosives Act as one basis for the arrests. They also suspected the men of preparing an act of terrorism, an offense covered by Section 5 of the Terrorism Act. Those suspicions are not findings that an attack was planned. The five men were in their 20s.

Officers released all five on Monday, Sept. 28, after interviews and other inquiries. Laurence Taylor, the head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said they remained under investigation and were subject to strict bail conditions. Police have not specified those conditions publicly.

Taylor said releasing the men was an investigative decision made with public safety and police powers in mind. Bail does not mean the investigation has ended, just as arrest on suspicion does not prove an offense. No charges against the men are reported in the available coverage.

Police have not publicly set out what the men were doing near the base or the evidence behind the suspicion that they were preparing a terrorist act. Whether the petrol has any connection to an offense also remains unanswered in their public account.

A foreign link remains an open question

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was surprised by the bail decision and suggested Iran might have been involved. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the case “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor,” The Associated Press reported. Rubio did not identify a country or provide supporting details in the reported interview.

British investigators have not publicly reached that conclusion. Counter Terrorism Policing says it is keeping an open mind about the circumstances, including whether any individuals worked knowingly or unknowingly on behalf of a foreign state. Investigating that possibility is not the same as finding that it happened.

The Iranian Embassy in London denied Iranian involvement, CBS News reported. Its denial does not settle the inquiry, any more than U.S. officials’ remarks establish a foreign role. Police have identified a line of investigation, not a country responsible for an offense.

British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said it was too early to speculate about a motive and urged time for police and security services to investigate, TIME reported. For residents who were told to leave their homes, the unanswered questions include whether the vehicles posed any danger and what, if anything, the petrol was intended for.

Police have not disclosed the purpose of the petrol, the case-specific evidence behind the arrests or the precise bail terms. The five men remain under investigation, and police have not announced a finding of foreign-state involvement.