Strong Indications of Iranian Involvement in Suspected Plot Against British Airbase
The British prime minister says the incident at RAF Fairford remains the subject of a complex, serious and continuing police investigation.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said London had “strong indications” that Iran was involved in a suspected plot targeting a British airbase used by US forces to carry out attacks against the Islamic Republic.
The incident, whose circumstances remain unclear, prompted a large-scale security response and raised concerns among Western allies. Five British men in their twenties were arrested on Sunday near RAF Fairford in western England on suspicion of terrorism and explosives-related offences.
All five men, who live in London, were later released on bail.
“There are strong indications that Iran played a role in what happened at Fairford over the weekend, but the matter of course remains the subject of an ongoing, complex and serious police investigation,” Burnham told the BBC.
Iran strongly denied the allegations on Monday following reports suggesting that it may have been involved in the incident.
Burnham said Britain was working closely with the United States, whose bombers have used RAF Fairford over recent months to conduct missions against Iran.
Following the arrests, US President Donald Trump said the men had planned to cause “serious damage”. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also pointed to the possible involvement of a “foreign actor”.
Britain had not publicly linked the incident to Iran before Burnham’s comments. Counterterrorism police had nevertheless said their investigation was examining potential foreign-state involvement, including whether individuals may have been acting as proxies “either knowingly or unknowingly on behalf of a foreign state”.
Police said on Tuesday that petrol had been found in the vans used by the suspects, but that no improvised explosive devices had been discovered.
The authorities also defended their decision to release the five men on bail, which had drawn criticism from several figures, including Trump.
The US president said further information would emerge about why the British authorities had granted bail to individuals arrested on suspicion of planning an operation against a British airbase used by American forces to launch strikes on Iran.
Adding to the uncertainty surrounding Sunday’s events, the British newspaper The Times reported that one of the men had called the emergency services shortly before his arrest in the early hours of the morning.
“Investigators are considering whether it was surveillance, a ‘live rehearsal’ designed to test security procedures, or a theatrical gesture intended to send a message to the British government,” the newspaper reported.
The Times added that investigators were unsure whether the man had lost his nerve or whether the call had formed part of the plan. The newspaper did not identify its sources.
