Two men charged in Britain with helping Iran over RAF Fairford incident

LONDON – British prosecutors said on Oct 27 they had charged two men under the National Security Act over an incident in September at the RAF Fairford airbase, with police saying the two were suspected of assisting Iran.RAF Fairford had been used by US bombers to carry out strikes on Iran, but they were withdrawn on security grounds shortly after five British men were arrested outside the military base in south-west England in the early hours of Sept 27.The Crown Prosecution Service said it had charged Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, with engaging in conduct that was likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service.Nouman Essghir, 24, was charged with one offence of entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK on Aug 22. The pair will appear in court later on Oct 27.Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, Head of National Counter Terrorism Policing in Britain, said police believed the country Abdulkarim was assisting was Iran. REUTERS