Trump on the arrest near RAF Fairford: “The suspects were under surveillance” — Britain’s former counter-terrorism chief disagrees

President Donald Trump has spoken about the arrest of five men near the RAF Fairford air base in Britain — the main forward base of U.S. aviation in the war against Iran. “They were looking to do great damage to our fortress and the cooperation with the British worked brilliantly,” Trump told reporters, adding that the suspects had been “under surveillance”, which, as Al Jazeera reports, points to a kind of joint strategic surveillance against the base itself.

But Trump’s version was immediately questioned by Britain’s former counter-terrorism police chief, Neil Phillips, who told Al Jazeera it is too early to say whether the suspected plot was directed by Iran or was simply an “inspired act”. Phillips called it a “major concern” that the suspects had gotten so far, describing it as a “very well-coordinated plot”. He also questioned Trump’s claim that the suspects had been under surveillance before the arrest: according to him, it was a citizen who saw “three vans acting suspiciously” and alerted the police.

The arrest near RAF Fairford raises the question of whether this is the first in a series of attempts to attack U.S. facilities in Britain, amid the escalation of the war between the U.S. and Iran.