Police were alerted to three suspicious vehicles travelling towards the US airbase in Gloucestershire at 00:45 BST on 27 September. A major incident was declared and dozens of homes evacuated. A bomb disposal team was deployed, and petrol was found in three vans near the base. Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and later on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act. Police later said they did not find improvised explosive devices.
The two men were initially arrested on 27 September near the base and on 1 October in the borough of Westminster respectively. The 25-year-old is a dual UK-Iranian national. Both are from the Borough of Westminster in London. The other five men, including a 22-year-old British national arrested on 6 October, remain on police bail.
RAF Fairford has been used by US bombers in recent months after the former prime minister granted Washington permission to use British bases for defensive strikes against Tehran during the Middle East war. The US Air Force withdrew all of its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford earlier this month following the suspected plot.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, said: "This is very much a live investigation, and our evidence gathering continues, but at this time our position remains the same; we consider it highly likely that there is Iranian state involvement. Our investigators are continuing to examine what that level of involvement was and the ambition behind it."
Taylor added that national security investigations can take time due to their sensitive nature. "Our specialist teams have been working tirelessly to interrogate the many lines of enquiry involved in this hugely complex investigation," he said.