UK Suspects Iran of Involvement in Planned Terror Attack Near Fairford Air Base

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there are indications of Iranian involvement in the suspected preparation of a terrorist attack near RAF Fairford air base.

He made the remarks to Sky News while commenting on the investigation into five men detained near the base in Gloucestershire.

The Prime Minister also said he chaired a COBRAgovernment committee meeting on Monday over the incident. According to him, there is currently no need to urgently recall Parliament, but he is prepared to do so if the situation requires it.

“This remains a complex and very serious police investigation, so at this stage I cannot say anything more,” Burnham said.

As Militarnyi previously reported, on September 27, British police detained five men aged between 23 and 25 after receiving a report about three suspicious vans near RAF Fairford.

All five men are British citizens and residents of London. They were arrested on suspicion of offenses under the Explosives Act and later on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act.

Following questioning, all five were released on bail. However, they remain under investigation and are subject to restrictions on their movements and contacts.

Initially, bomb disposal experts worked near the vehicles, and around 85 households in the area were evacuated due to the potential danger. Later, after a detailed examination of the three vans, police clarified that no improvised explosive devices were found, although a quantity of petrol was discovered.

Even before the Prime Minister’s statement, counter-terrorism police said they were considering several lines of inquiry, including the possibility that the detainees may have acted as intermediaries or proxies on behalf of a foreign state, either knowingly or unknowingly. At the time, no specific country was officially named.

The Iranian Embassy in the UK rejected reports of possible Tehran involvement, calling them baseless. Following Burnham’s statement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also denied the allegations.

RAF Fairford is one of the key air bases in the UK and is also used by U.S. military aircraft, including those that have been involved in strikes on Iranian territory.

Amid the investigation, U.S. Ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens separately highlighted the cooperation between U.S. and British authorities in the case.