British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of almost certainly directing a suspected plot targeting RAF Fairford, a strategically
important air base in southwest England. He told Parliament on Monday that the operation was highly likely to have been coordinated from Iranian territory, raising fresh concerns about alleged Iranian-linked security threats in Britain.
The investigation intensified after five British men were arrested near the air base in the early hours of September 27 on suspicion of terrorism-related offences and involvement in explosives offences. RAF Fairford has been used by US bombers conducting military strikes against Iran, making the facility a particularly sensitive security target.
US officials previously told Reuters that investigators were examining a suspected Iranian-linked plan to carry out a drone attack against the base. US President Donald Trump also said last week that a threat associated with Iran had prompted the withdrawal of American bombers from Fairford.
“I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard,” Burnham told MPs.
Tehran has firmly rejected the allegations. Iran’s ambassador to Britain, Seyed Ali Mousavi, said the Iranian government had no involvement in the incident and challenged the UK to publish any evidence supporting its claims.
“If the British government possesses any documents or evidence to support its claims, it should present them,” Mousavi said, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
Investigation continues as suspects are released
Despite the serious allegations, key details of the suspected operation remain unclear. The five men initially detained have since been released on police bail under stringent conditions, without being charged. Two additional suspects, including a British-Iranian national, have also been released.
Police said that petrol had been discovered in vans seized during the investigation, but no viable explosive device was found. Authorities have nevertheless continued to examine the possibility that a foreign state was involved in planning or facilitating the suspected operation.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told Parliament that investigators believed an unnamed individual based in Iran was behind the incident.
Burnham said the government would respond by targeting the networks and financial channels allegedly used by Iran to conduct hostile activities on British soil.
“We will not tolerate these threats on our soil,” he said, pledging to use the government’s full range of powers against criminal networks linked to Iran. He also indicated that further sanctions would be introduced to limit the ability of Tehran and the IRGC to threaten British security.
International condemnation and pressure on Tehran
The allegations have emerged amid growing international concern over what Western governments describe as Iranian efforts to conduct covert operations abroad.
Foreign ministries representing nearly 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, France and Germany, issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s alleged use of violent tactics against foreign governments and their partners. The statement referred to suspected assassination plots, arson, sabotage, cyberattacks and other forms of hybrid activity.
The signatories said the Fairford incident reinforced their assessment that the IRGC continued to pursue hostile activities outside Iran through covert networks and proxy actors.
British authorities have repeatedly accused Tehran of supporting criminal networks involved in threats against individuals in the UK. The Iranian government has consistently denied these allegations.
Last year, the British government reported that it had identified 20 credible threats backed by Iran involving potential killings or kidnappings of people based in the country.
Britain expands measures against the IRGC
The latest accusations follow a series of measures by London aimed at restricting the activities of Iranian-linked organisations and individuals.
In July, Britain introduced new powers prohibiting support for the IRGC and the group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI). The latter had claimed responsibility for seven attacks earlier in the year against locations associated with Jewish and Israeli communities and Persian-language media.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband also summoned Iran’s ambassador as the government announced sanctions against two Iranian nationals.
One of those targeted was Ruhollah Bazghandi, whom British authorities identified as the IRGC’s head of counterintelligence operations. The second, Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki, was described by the UK as a facilitator for the Zindashti criminal network, which has already been sanctioned and is accused of involvement in plots against Iranian dissidents.
The Fairford investigation now adds to a broader dispute between London and Tehran over alleged covert operations, national security and the activities of Iran-linked networks in Europe. However, with suspects released without charge and crucial evidence not yet made public, the precise circumstances of the suspected plot remain unresolved. Photo by jay-jerry, Wikimedia commons.
