RAF Fairford incident ‘almost certainly’ directed by Iran’s security force, Burnham says

A suspected attack against RAF Fairford was “highly likely” to have been directed by Iran’s security force, the IRGC, prime minister Andy Burnham has said.

In an update to MPs in the Commons on Monday, Mr Burnham said: “I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been co-ordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard.”

Five men were arrested close to the Gloucestershire airbase, which is used by the US, on Sunday 27 September. The suspects, who were British citizens from London in their 20s, were held over explosives and terrorism offences, but have since been released on bail.

Mr Burnham added: “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. And we will bring further sanctions to restrict the capacity of Iran and the IRGC to bring us harm”.

He later told Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch: “We will continue to work with our US counterparts on RAF Fairford”.

The Iranian ambassador to the UK has been summoned to make clear that “Britain will not tolerate threats on our soil”, foreign secretary Ed Miliband also said.

Last week, the US air force pulled its bombers from RAF Fairford and redeployed them back to their home bases in the US.

According to reports in the US media, the decision to remove the bombers was in response to renewed security concerns about the safety of the base in Gloucestershire.

Seven suspects have now been arrested by police investigating the suspected terror plot against RAF Fairford, and subsequently released under strict bail conditions.

Three suspicious vans were stopped near the airbase on Sunday 27 September. No explosive materials were found in the vans, but a quantity of petrol was seized, police said.