The five detainees for the alleged attempted attack against a British military base are released

LondonThe supposed Iranian plot of the also supposed attack against the Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Fairford, used by the United States in its bombings against Iran, is deflating by the moment. The five detainees from early Sunday morning, suspected of a possible terrorist attack, have been provisionally released this Monday afternoon. The arrest took place after a resident of the small village of Whelford, one of those surrounding the base, alerted to the presence of three white vans that were blocking access to her property, and saw a group of hooded people in balaclavas nearby.

What on Saturday night was seen as an international thriller, with Donald Trump reminding that it was a surveillance operation that had been underway for some time, and that the detainees "intended to cause great harm," does not even seem, for now, like a rural crime of the kind solved by Miss Marple, the character by Agatha Christie.

Despite the release of the suspects, all British, residents of London and between 23 and 25 years old, the police do not yet rule out any possibility. "The investigation is not over. [The suspects] Are subject to strict conditions regarding their movements and contact with other people. They remain under investigation while we explore various lines of inquiry," assured Laurence Taylor, head of the counter-terrorism unit and assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard, in a press conference.

Initially, the five men were arrested on suspicion of alleged offenses provided for in the Explosives Act and, subsequently, under the accusation of preparation of a terrorist act, in accordance with section five of the Terrorism Act. Despite this initial precaution, Taylor made no mention of any findings related to dangerous or potentially dangerous material during the exhaustive search that, with robots from the explosive ordnance disposal brigade, has been carried out in the last thirty-six hours on the three confiscated vans with which the suspects traveled to the area. The police official also did not comment on what led them to the vicinity of this strategic Royal Air Force center.

The Fairford base is located in the idyllic Cotswolds region, in the county of Gloucester, about 160 kilometers west of London. The police intervention took place following a report from a neighbor who, upon seeing apparently suspicious activity, first called the Ministry of Defence police, who did not answer the call, and then the 999 emergency services. On Sunday morning, about 85 homes in the vicinity of the location where the three vans were found were evacuated. The neighbors will be able to return to their homes in the coming hours.

Since the incident was reported, one of the most widely spread hypotheses by the British media has been the possibility of an Iranian plot, given the role that Fairford has played in the war against Iran, once London authorized its use to the United States for its military operations. But the assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard wanted to be cautious in this regard: "I know there is considerable interest in knowing whether the current geopolitical context has any relation to this incident. We are maintaining an open mind. We are considering it from every possible angle, including the possibility that this was actively committed by intermediaries or individuals who, consciously or unconsciously, were acting on behalf of a foreign state."

He did not go any further, however. Who did was the Iranian embassy in London, which rejected any involvement in the alleged terrorist attack. The mystery of the possible attack continues.