Britain believes Iran was involved in incident near air base used by U.S., Prime Minister Andy Burnham says

Residents were allowed to return home Monday.

In an update Tuesday, the head of counterterrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, said no explosives had been found in three vans belonging to the suspects, although “a quantity of petrol” had been recovered.

“Those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination, with the support of military assets and forensic experts, and we can confirm that no improvised explosive devices were found,” he said, adding that investigators had searched properties in London.

In the United Kingdom, police can usually hold people for up to 24 hours before they have to charge or release them, although officers can apply to extend that time if they suspect a serious crime has been committed. Suspects arrested under the Terrorism Act can be held without charge for up to 14 days.

Tuesday’s update came after President Donald Trump told reporters he was disappointed about the decision to free the men on bail.

“I’m just disappointed that they caught terrorists — they did a good job, and then they sort of let them go,” he said, adding, “How do you give bail to a terrorist?”

Asked if it was a long-standing investigation, Trump replied, “A long-standing. Yeah, we were involved in it.”

“They put them out on bail. I assume they have, they have them watched closely. But these were serious people, seriously bad people, and they should not have done that,” he added.

Burnham said Wednesday that the men were released with the “strictest possible bail conditions,” telling the BBC: “The authorities have this under the strongest grip and closest control, and I can assure you of that.”

Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the incident “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor” — an allegation British officials had not confirmed until Burnham’s comments Wednesday.

Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, gave permission for the United States to use its bases for “specific and limited defensive” operations against Iran. Earlier this year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told the semiofficial Tasnim news agency that “any base used to facilitate aggression against Iranian territory is considered a legitimate target,” specifically citing bomber flights taking off from Fairford.