A British man was charged on Tuesday with assisting Iran’s intelligence service in connection with a major security incident last month at an English air base used by the United States in its war with Iran.
The British police said in a statement that Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, a 24-year-old British national from Westminster, London, had been charged under the National Security Act, which makes it an offense to assist a foreign intelligence service.
“In this case, we believe that country to be Iran,” said Laurence Taylor, the head of British counterterrorism policing.
A second British man, Nouman Essghir, 24, was also charged on Tuesday morning under the National Security Act, with entering, accessing, inspecting or approaching a “prohibited place” for reasons “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom,” the police said.
They added that Mr. Essghir was first arrested outside R.A.F. Fairford, the air base in Gloucestershire, England, in the early hours of Sept. 27. However, Mr. Essghir was charged in connection with activity he is accused of carrying out on Aug. 22, more than a month before the events at the base prompted a major security alert and evacuations.
The military air base, R.A.F. Fairford, is operated by the United States and has been used by the U.S. Air Force to deploy some of its largest bombers in the American-Israeli war against Iran.
Iran has denied being involved in the events at the air base.
“We have seen a range of incidents in recent months that we believe have been directed by the Iranian state,” Mr. Taylor said in his statement. “And as the director general of MI5 said just the other week, we are working together to intervene, identify and respond to that threat,” he added, referring to the British domestic security agency.
The two men were scheduled to appear in a London courtroom on Tuesday morning.
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