RAF Fairford incident almost certainly directed by Iran

The incident at RAF Fairford is assessed as highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran and almost certainly directed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Prime Minister told the House of Commons.

Andy Burnham made the attribution in a statement covering the United Nations General Assembly and the international meetings that followed, turning to protective security at bases shared with the United States.

He said: “Since Unga, Mr Speaker, we have been in close contact with the US about protective security at our shared bases. I want to thank our police and military personnel for their swift response to the incidents at RAF Fairford and RAF Molesworth. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will update the House regarding the incident at RAF Fairford, but 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. 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 do us harm.”

Iran’s embassy in London called the claims unfounded and malicious speculation, and the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Britain was barking up the wrong tree.

Police were called at about a quarter to one in the morning of 27 September to reports of suspicious vehicles heading towards the Gloucestershire base. Armed officers from Gloucestershire Constabulary arrested five men near Whelford, initially on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act 1875 and then on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act under section five of the Terrorism Act 2006. A major incident was declared, a cordon went up and homes nearby were evacuated while Army bomb disposal teams examined three vehicles.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said on 29 September that no improvised explosive devices had been found and that a quantity of petrol had been recovered. He had said a day earlier that investigators were considering whether the activity had been committed by proxies, knowingly or unknowingly acting on behalf of a foreign state.

Seven men in their twenties have now been arrested, six of them British nationals and one a British-Iranian dual national detained in Westminster on 1 October. The most recent arrest, a twenty-two year old taken in Westminster on 6 October, was reported by this publication at the time. All seven have been released on bail and nobody has been charged.

American B-1B bombers left Fairford on 4 October, with United States European Command saying only that they were redeploying to their home stations and giving no reason. The base is the United States Air Force’s preferred bomber forward operating location in Europe, supported by the 501st Combat Support Wing and the 420th Air Base Squadron.