Two men charged under National Security Act over RAF Fairford incident

Two 24-year-old London men were charged Tuesday under the National Security Act 2023 over an incident near RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire air base used by the U.S. military, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim is charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, which police believe is Iran's. Nouman Essghir is charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK. Both were due at Westminster Magistrates' Court. Police were alerted in the early hours of 27 September to three suspicious vehicles near the base. Dozens of residents were evacuated while armed police and army bomb-disposal teams searched for explosives, and Essghir was arrested at the scene. Counter-terrorism police said Iranian state involvement was highly likely. Other men arrested remain on bail, and prosecutor Frank Ferguson said the investigation continues.

The Guardian and CBS News, the left-leaning outlets, lead with the CPS decision and the legal wording. The Guardian quotes Ferguson and the police assessment of Iranian state involvement, and reports that five other men remain on bail. CBS sets out the charge language in full and notes the base was used for U.S. strikes on Iran. It also reports that a 25-year-old British-Iranian dual national was released on bail. The Daily Mail, on the right, puts 'terror plot' in its headline and focuses on the scene: three suspicious vehicles, the evacuation, seven arrests and a charge period of 31 August to 28 September. It says Iran is 'understood' to be the intelligence service involved, and it gives less space to prosecutors' statements. All three agree on the names, charges and court date. They differ in tone, with the left-leaning pieces more procedural and the Mail more dramatic. Their counts of other arrests also vary. Al Jazeera, in the alternative group, adds the withdrawal of U.S. B-1 bombers and Prime Minister Andy Burnham's comments.