US-based drones in the United Kingdom triggers security response

O European Command of the United States Armed Forces today reported that the detection of unauthorized drones on the British Air Force Base (RAF) in Lakenheath, United Kingdom, triggered a security response.

The U.S. military is taking ‘all measures’ to ensure the safety of base facilities, aircraft and military personnel, an anonymous spokesman of the European Command said.

The same source, cited by AP and AFP agencies, added that no member of staff, aircraft or infrastructure was affected by the activity.

The answer comes a few days after the U.S. transferred more than a dozen aircraft from another base in eastern England at Fairford due to a threat.

This week, three men were accused by the U.S. authorities of acting in the service of Iran and planning attacks against Fairford base, where bombers and US troops were also stationed.

The charges against Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi (who has Iranian and Iraqi dual nationality), Mohsen Mohajeri (Iranian) and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani (Iraqian) appear in a complaint made public in a federal court in Manhattan.

Only Al-Saadi is under arrest, reported the Associated Press (AP).

Federal prosecutor Jamie McDonald of New York highlighted in a statement that Al-Saadi, arrested in spring, continued to coordinate actions with the coerced in the days leading up to the terrorist attack attempt in September against Fairford base.

“ These defendants helped orchestrate a terror campaign on behalf of terrorist organizations linked to Iran, targeting Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, as well as the British military base RAF Fairford, which housed US military personnel,” said McDonald.

“The threat posed by Iran and the terrorist groups supported by the country against the United States and our allies is not hypothetical, it is very real,” he warned.

The new charge presents unpublished details of an episode that remained in mystery for more than a month.

The case began when five men were arrested, after midnight on 27 September, on suspicion of involvement in explosives and terrorism, after three suspicious vans were sighted heading for the base in western England.

A sixth suspect, who has British and Iranian dual nationality, was arrested a few days later. All men were released after payment of a bail.

The British authorities associated the incident with Tehran and, although Iran denied involvement, the arrests led the United States to withdraw the bombers that were deployed on site.

The RAF Fairford Air Base, located 160 kilometres west of London, has been used by U.S. bombers over decades of conflict in the Middle East.

According to the prosecution, Al-Saadi used language coded in communications made from the arrest with family members, guiding the passage of money to third parties who could execute attacks.

The prosecution maintains that the three men conspired to use a network of contacts in the United Kingdom with the aim of perpetrating terrorist attacks on behalf of a network aligned with Iran, which included the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Kata’ib Hizballah group.

In June, Al-Saadi declared himself innocent of the accusations of having planned at least 18 attacks in Europe, as retaliation for the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran.

Both the Kata’ib Hizballah and the Revolutionary Guard of Iran were classified by the United States government as foreign terrorist organizations.

According to US prosecutors, al-Saadi was a commander of Kata’ib Hizballah.