British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday that a suspected plot targeting the RAF Fairford air base in Britain was "highly likely" to have been coordinated in Iran and "almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."
Speaking in the House of Commons, Burnham told MPs: "I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard."
The incident occurred on September 27, when five British men in their 20s from London were arrested near the Gloucestershire airbase on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences. According to sources, seven men have been arrested as part of the investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing, with all released on bail. Counter Terrorism Policing said it is considering "possible foreign state involvement" as part of its enquiries.
U.S. officials told Reuters that there had been a suspected plot involving Iran to launch a drone attack. The RAF Fairford base has been used by U.S. bombers to carry out strikes on Iran. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said a threat linked to Iran had prompted the removal of the planes from the base.
Burnham vowed a strong response to the alleged plot. "We will not tolerate these threats on our soil," he said. "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 do us harm."
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband summoned the Iranian ambassador to the UK to reinforce that Britain will not tolerate threats on its soil. The men arrested near the base were later released without charge on police bail under stringent conditions.