伊朗威胁、三辆货车和一个电话：英国谜团背后空军基地上周日，美国使用的一个军事基地附近接到一个神秘电话，引发了英国大规模的反恐反应，并引发了英国数日的不确定性。
An Iranian Threat, 3 Vans and a Phone Call: Behind the Mystery at a U.K. Air Base A mysterious call last Sunday near a military base used by the U.S. set in motion a huge counterterrorism response and days of uncertainty in Britain.
半夜，三辆白色货车驶过英格兰乡村风景如画的地区，蜿蜒驶向美国正在利用该基地对伊朗发动战争。
The three white vans navigated through a picturesque stretch of rural England in the middle of the night, winding toward a British air base that America is using to wage war on Iran.
周日凌晨12点45分，货车内的一名男子（原因尚不清楚）拨打了紧急服务部门，这向当局提供了第一个迹象，表明他们近两周前收到的情报可能正在发生的恐怖主义阴谋。
It was 12:45 a.m. on Sunday when one of the men inside the vans — for reasons still not clear — dialed emergency services, giving authorities their first sign that a terrorism plot they had received intelligence on almost two weeks earlier might be in motion.
警方紧急采取武装行动，迅速赶到现场，逮捕了该男子和四名同伙。后来向媒体泄露的一张颗粒状照片显示，这五名男子赤裸着上身坐在路边，双手被绑在背后。
The police scrambled an urgent, armed response, speeding to the scene and arresting the man and four associates. A grainy photo later leaked to the media showed the five men sitting shirtless on the side of a road, their hands bound behind their backs.
来自多个国家的安全官员告诉《纽约时报》，为什么这名男子报警仍然是试图解开当晚发生的事情的调查人员争论的话题。他们要求匿名，因为调查仍在进行中。这是当局尚未拼凑的众多谜题之一。
Why the man called the police remains the subject of debate among investigators trying to unravel what happened that night, security officials from several countries told The New York Times. They asked for anonymity because the inquiry remains open. It is one of many puzzles that the authorities have yet to piece together.
这通电话确实引发了一连串事件：多名男子因涉嫌恐怖主义遭逮捕；85户居民被紧急疏散；排爆机器人对多辆面包车进行爆炸物搜查；首相安迪·伯纳姆还召集了国家安全会议。事后他表示，“有充分迹象表明伊朗与此事有关”。但究竟与什么事有关呢？伯纳姆及其他英国当局并未给出明确答复。警方搜查后发现那些面包车内并无任何爆炸物。
The call did set off a cascade of events, including the arrest of the men on suspicion of terrorism, the frantic evacuation of 85 homes, a bomb disposal robot searching the vans for explosives, and a national security meeting convened by Prime Minister Andy Burnham. He said later that there were “strong indications that Iran played a part.”But a part in what, exactly? Mr. Burnham and other British authorities have offered few answers. The vans contained no explosives when police searched them.
不到一天时间，五名男子便均获保释——这种待遇通常适用于普通罪犯而非恐怖主义嫌疑人。此外，由于需要对证据予以保密，致使这些证据无法在刑事法庭上作为证据使用，这也可能限制了当局的行动。
And within a day, all five men were released on bail, the kind of treatment typically given to common criminals, rather than terrorism suspects. The authorities could also have been hamstrung by the need to keep evidence classified and thus unable to be cited in criminal court.
英格兰北部 威尔士 费尔福德皇家空军基地 伦敦 英吉利海峡 50英里
North England WALES Fairford R.A.F. Fairford London English Channel 50 mileS