Britain has accused Iran of playing a role in an incident near RAF Fairford in southwest England, an assessment Tehran has categorically rejected as police continue to investigate the arrest of five men near the airbase.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the BBC on Wednesday: “There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford”. He gave no public detail of the evidence behind that assessment or of the form any Iranian involvement might have taken.
Burnham added: “We will say more in due course but we can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part”. He said the investigation was ongoing and complex, and that investigators were working with colleagues in the USA.
Iranian authorities denied involvement on Monday. The Iranian embassy in London said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” any “unfounded and malicious speculations” linking Iran to the latest incident.
Five men, all UK nationals aged between 23 and 25, were arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning near RAF Fairford on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. Four live in Westminster and one in Camden. They have been released on bail, with Burnham saying the conditions were the “strictest possible”.
Police found a quantity of petrol during searches of the vans used by the group, but found no explosive devices. One of the five men dialled 999 himself before the arrests.
Three white vans appeared to travel towards RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sunday. The incident took place near Whelford, a village directly east of the base. A local resident who called police said she had seen a group of masked men near the vans, which were blocking a road in a village next to the military base.
Authorities have not publicly described the specific threat they believe was being prepared, nor said whether evidence directly links any of the five men to Iran. It is also unclear whether any of the men will face charges.
RAF Fairford has been used by American bombers for several decades. American bombers have taken off from the base in recent months on missions related to the war against Iran, placing the base within the wider context of the confrontation between the US and Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the incident at RAF Fairford “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor”. He did not identify an actor in that statement.
President Donald Trump also criticised the decision to grant bail. Speaking at the White House on Monday, he said: “I will tell you, I would have said, don't let them have bail. I'm surprised that they released them. I wouldn't have done that.”
Burnham’s statement marks the British government’s public attribution of a role to Iran while the police inquiry remains under way. Tehran’s denial leaves the central allegation disputed, and British officials have said further information will be released in due course.
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