UK Says Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Almost Certainly Directed Scare at US-Used Airbase
Prime Minister Andy Burnham says Britain believes the IRGC coordinated the September 27 incident at RAF Fairford, as London summons Iran’s ambassador and designates two Iranian nationals over alleged hostile activity
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) almost certainly directed a major security scare at a British airbase used by the United States military in its war against Iran, prompting London to summon Tehran’s ambassador and announce new measures targeting alleged Iranian-linked hostile activity.
Addressing parliament, Burnham said the British government’s assessment was that the September 27 incident at Royal Air Force Fairford in southwest England was “highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard.”
“We will not tolerate these threats on our soil. We will crack down on Iran’s use of criminal networks, using our full range of powers to target them and their funding streams,” Burnham warned.
The incident drew renewed attention last week after the United States abruptly withdrew all its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford. The base has been used by US forces involved in military operations against Iran.
The British Foreign Office confirmed Monday that Iran’s ambassador to the United Kingdom had been summoned for talks following the government’s assessment of the incident.
Foreign Minister Ed Miliband also announced the designation of two Iranian nationals over their alleged involvement in facilitating or engaging in hostile activity on behalf of the Iranian government.
“We are also announcing the designation of two Iranian nationals for their role in facilitating or engaging in hostile activity on behalf of the Iranian regime, with the clear intent of threatening, planning or conducting attacks overseas,” Miliband said.
The incident first came to public attention on September 27, when police were called to the airbase after a local farmer reported a group of men with several white vans behaving suspiciously.
The report triggered a major counter-terrorism investigation and the evacuation of a nearby village.
Seven suspects were arrested in the days that followed, including a British-Iranian national. However, all have since been released on bail, and none has been charged. Investigators reportedly found no explosives in the vans, although officials said they recovered some petrol.
Despite the arrests and extensive investigation, British authorities have not publicly established the precise nature of the threat or disclosed the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
Miliband said the government had already designated the IRGC under Britain's new state-threats powers and imposed major sanctions on individuals responsible for what London describes as Iran's malign activities.
The latest measures signal Britain's intention to use additional legal and financial tools to counter alleged Iranian-directed operations on British soil and activities targeting people overseas.
The allegations come amid heightened tensions between London and Tehran over the security implications of the war involving Iran and the use of British military facilities by US forces.
RAF Fairford's role in supporting American bomber operations has placed the base in a strategically sensitive position, although British authorities have not publicly established that the September 27 incident was directly connected to any specific military operation.