Iran declares RAF base in England a ‘legitimate target’

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has named RAF Fairford as a legitimate target, after American B-1 bombers flew missions against Iran from the Gloucestershire airfield.

The statement, the 46th the IRGC has issued since the conflict resumed, went out on Thursday. It said the US had turned to B-1s flying from Fairford once the missile stocks aboard its ships in the Indian Ocean ran dry. Then came the line that has drawn attention in London. “As Foreign Ministry officials have also clarified, any base used to invade Iranian territory is our legitimate target.”

What was new was the framing, as the statement carried the title “Warning to the British monarchy”, and the language that followed was perhaps more blunt than usual.”We warn the British monarchy, which is the main cause of the misfortunes of the people of our region and has a dark record of dividing Islamic countries, widespread massacres in these countries, imposing authoritarian governments, and worst of all, organising and leading the occupation of Palestine and the creation of the Israeli Nakba, and has participated most in the recent aggressions of the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran, not to burden its case any further.”

According to Reuters, Britain responded on Thursday by saying its armed forces were ready to protect the country from any attack. A government spokesperson told the agency: “Our Armed Forces are ready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it’s on our soil or from abroad. The UK stands ready 24/7 to defend itself.” That, the spokesperson added, includes a layered approach to air and missile defence drawing on Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force assets, worked alongside NATO allies. On the sorties themselves the government said nothing, citing its standing position of not commenting on foreign nations’ military operations.

American aircraft have been flying from Fairford in connection with this conflict since March, when the base was authorised for what the government called defensive strikes. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has kept that policy since taking office on 20 July, and the government said last week it was recommitting to the existing agreement letting the US use British bases in what it described as the collective self-defence of the region. The arrangement covers American operations against missile sites used to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry put out its own statement alongside the IRGC’s, condemning the decision to allow US use of British bases and warning that any party taking part in aggression against Iran would carry responsibility for the consequences. It called London a principal architect of instability in the region and reached back through the grievances: the 1953 coup, British backing for Iraq in the 1980s war, nuclear sanctions, the recent proscription of the IRGC itself.