A suspect called the police before his arrest.. The mystery of the “secret mission” near the Fairford base

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British investigations into the incident of the arrest of five Britons near Ruff Fairford Air Base, which is used by American forces, are complicated after investigations revealed that one of the suspects called the police himself before his arrest, while the authorities did not find any explosives inside the three vehicles that were near the base, and instead found a quantity of gasoline, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph.

British counter-terrorism police are examining several possibilities regarding the nature of the movement, including that the suspects carried out a reconnaissance mission or a “dry trial” to test the security procedures of the base, or were working for a foreign party, or that the incident was related to the theft of fuel. The sensitivity of the issue increases due to the location of the base, which hosts hundreds of American forces and was used by American bombers to carry out strikes against Iran during the current war.

In a remarkable development, investigations revealed that one of the five men called the British emergency services about an hour before his arrest, but it is not yet clear why he called or what he wanted to inform the police about. The call came just before a farmer reported to the police at 1:36 a.m., after she saw three small vehicles and men behaving suspiciously near the base as she was returning to her home. The motives for the mysterious connection are still unknown. Investigators are looking into whether the man realized he was involved in a dangerous scheme and tried to inform authorities, or whether the contact was part of the scheme itself.

The authorities are also looking into the possibility that the vehicles may have arrived in the area as part of a “dry trial” aimed at testing security weaknesses or determining the possibility of approaching the military facility before carrying out a possible operation.

The five men, all Britons from London and aged between 23 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of committing crimes related to explosives and preparing for a terrorist act. However, searches of the vehicles did not reveal any explosive devices, while police found a quantity of gasoline. The absence of explosives has complicated the investigation, as investigators are still trying to determine the true purpose of the presence of the men and vehicles near the base. Among the hypotheses being investigated is the possibility that the operation was related to information gathering or security testing, or that the men may have acted as agents for a foreign country, whether they knew who was behind the mission or not.

The possibility of a link to Iran is one of the lines of investigation that counter-terrorism police are focusing on, with suspects being considered for possible recruitment online to act as agents for a foreign body.

Assistant Commissioner Lawrence Taylor, head of Britain's counter-terrorism police, said authorities were examining the possibility that the activity was carried out by "agents or individuals, knowingly or unknowingly, working for the benefit of a foreign state." The investigations come amid increasing tension between Britain and Iran, and after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard warned in July that any British base used to launch attacks on Tehran would be a “legitimate target.”

The British authorities sparked controversy after they released the five men on bail the day after their arrest. US President Donald Trump criticized the decision, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that a “foreign party” was clearly involved in the incident. Counter-terrorism police defended the release decision, stressing that the men are still under investigation and subject to strict bail conditions, and that the decision was made based on a careful investigative assessment of the facts and evidence. The incident led to the evacuation of residents of about 85 homes in the village of Wilford, near the base, amid fears of the possibility of explosive materials inside the vehicles.

In the latest development, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that there are “strong indications that Iran played a role” in what happened near the “Raf Fairford” base. He added that the investigation is “ongoing, complex and dangerous,” stressing that Britain is working closely with the United States. Burnham refused to reveal the nature of the information on which the government relied to link Iran to the incident, but he said that he “would not say that lightly.” The Prime Minister stressed that the British authorities impose “the strictest possible bail conditions” on the suspects, and that the case is subject to the highest levels of security oversight.