How RAF Fairford in a Quiet Corner of England Became a U.S.-Iran Flashpoint

The three white vans navigated through a picturesque stretch of rural England in the middle of the night, winding toward a British air base that America is using to wage war on Iran. It was 12:45 a.m. on Sunday when one of the men inside the vans — for reasons still not clear — dialed emergency services, giving authorities their first sign that a terrorism plot they had received intelligence on almost two weeks earlier might be in motion. The police scrambled an urgent, armed response, speeding to the scene and arresting the man and four associates. A grainy photo later leaked to the media showed the five men sitting shirtless on the side of a road, their hands bound behind their backs. Why the man called the police remains the subject of debate among investigators trying to unravel what happened that night, security officials from several countries told The New York Times. They asked for anonymity because the inquiry remains open. It is one of many puzzles that the authorities have yet to piece together. The call did set off a cascade of events, including the arrest of the men on suspicion of terrorism, the frantic evacuation of 85 homes, a bomb disposal robot searching the vans for explosives, and a national security meeting convened by Prime Minister Andy Burnham. He said later that there were “strong indications that Iran played a part.” But a part in what, exactly? Mr. Burnham and other British authorities have offered few answers. The vans contained no explosives when police searched them. And within a day, all five men were released on bail, the kind of treatment typically given to common criminals, rather than terrorism suspects. The authorities could also have been hamstrung by the need to keep evidence classified and thus unable to be cited in criminal court. The New York Times We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .