Burnham: UK believes Iran played a part in RAF Fairford incident

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the UK government believes Iran played a part in the suspected terror plot investigated near RAF Fairford, in an interview with the BBC on 30 September.

Burnham said: “There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford.” Burnham added: “We will say more in due course, but we can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part.”

It is the first time the government has named a specific country as being behind the incident. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said on 28 September that the plot “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor”, citing Iran as an example of a state that had “openly threatened to attack American interests globally”, but stopped short of a direct UK government assessment.

Burnham did not set out what evidence supported the conclusion. Five British men were arrested near the Gloucestershire airbase in the early hours of 27 September on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. Searches of three vehicles found no explosives, but officers recovered fuel and large plastic drums, police have said.

The men were released on bail on 28 September. Burnham said: “People need to understand that when it says released — that isn’t as people might think,” adding that “the authorities have this under the strongest grip and closest control.”

The Iranian embassy in London has strongly denied any involvement, saying in a statement after Rubio’s remarks that it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” what it called “unfounded and malicious speculations” linking Iran to the incident.

RAF Fairford, used by US forces, has been at the centre of tension over Iran in recent months; the base was used to stage US aircraft during strikes on Iranian targets earlier this year. A heavily guarded police cordon has remained around the site since the arrests.