Seventh Arrest in RAF Fairford Probe as US Officials Say Iran Drone-Plot Fears Prompted Bomber Pullout

British counter-terrorism police arrested a 22-year-old British man in London on Tuesday on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts, as the investigation into a suspected plot near RAF Fairford — the Gloucestershire airbase used by American bombers to strike Iran — widened to a seventh suspect.

The man was detained in Westminster on Tuesday morning, and officers searched a property in the same area, Counter Terrorism Policing said. He remains in custody. Six men in their twenties arrested previously in connection with the investigation, including a dual British-Iranian national detained on 1 October, remain on police bail.

“This remains a live investigation and our specialist teams continue to pursue multiple lines of enquiry into the circumstances surrounding events near RAF Fairford,” Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said in a statement on Tuesday.

In a significant new detail, two US officials told Reuters on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity, that a suspected plot involving Iran to launch a complex drone attack on the base prompted the United States to remove its B-1 bomber aircraft from Fairford. Iran has denied any involvement in any alleged plot at the airbase. A spokesperson for the US military’s European Command declined to comment, saying: “It is inappropriate to discuss matters of intelligence, and we will not discuss specific force protection measures.”

The officials’ account was the first direct explanation from the American side of the decision to pull the bombers off the base. According to Reuters, President Trump said on Monday that the United States had moved the aircraft because “we had a threat”, adding that those behind the threat “would be linked to Iran” but offering no further details.

The investigation began on 27 September, when three suspicious vehicles were reported near the base in the early hours of the morning, triggering a major security response. Five men aged between 23 and 25 were arrested near the airbase that day; police said they later found a quantity of petrol in the vans but no explosive devices, according to Reuters. The five were released on police bail.

Days later, on 30 September, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the BBC there were “strong indications” that Iran had played a part in the incident. Iran’s embassy in London rejected the claim, calling it “unfounded and malicious speculations”. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said separately that the incident “clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor”.

Why It Matters

The Fairford case matters for three reasons. First, the base is a forward operating location for the US Air Force that has been used extensively for strikes on Iran since the war began at the end of February — any credible plot against it would be an attack on the logistics of an active conflict. Second, the American decision to withdraw the bombers is itself a strategic signal: moving strike assets to protect them from a suspected drone attack effectively hands the suspected plotters a partial victory, whether or not the plot was real. Third, the public attribution game — British and American officials pointing at Iran while Tehran categorically denies involvement — is raising the temperature of an already live confrontation, with every arrest and every anonymous briefing pulling the standoff between Washington, London and Tehran a little further into the open.

What to watch next: whether police charge any of the seven suspects or the investigation is downgraded; whether Britain or the United States publishes evidence tying the alleged drone plot to Iran; and whether Tehran responds beyond its denials. The bomber withdrawal, for now, stands as the most concrete consequence of a plot whose details remain largely classified.

Sources

– Reuters — UK police make further arrest in relation to suspected airbase plot: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-police-make-further-arrest-relation-suspected-airbase-plot-2026-10-06/

– Reuters — Iran drone plot fears led US to remove bombers from UK base, US officials say: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/iran-drone-plot-fears-led-us-remove-bombers-uk-base-us-officials-say-2026-10-06/

– USA Today — Arrest in London made in connection with suspected attack on US bombers: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/10/06/raf-fairford-uk-attack-arrest-us-bombers/92116376007/