Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Britain had “strong indications” that Iran was involved in a security incident at a Royal Air Force base used by the United States.
Published October 1, 2026
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” that Iran was involved in the alleged security incident at an airbase used by the United States, prompting a forced denial from Tehran.
Mr Burnham told the BBC on Wednesday that an investigation was underway into an alleged plot at the RAF base in Fairford. On Sunday, five British men in their 20s were arrested near the base on suspicion of “terrorism” and explosives offences. They were all released on bail the next day.
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“There are strong indications that Iran was involved in the events that occurred at Fairford Air Force Base over the weekend, but of course a complex and serious police investigation continues,” Burnham said. “We are working closely with our colleagues in the United States.”
He gave no details of what the suspects were planning or why Britain was considering Iran’s involvement.
However, the Prime Minister said: “We will provide further information to the public in due course.”
Mr Burnham’s comments were the first time British officials had publicly linked Iran to events at the base.
However, Iran strongly denies any involvement in the incident, and its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi hit back at Burnham’s claims.
“Prime Minister Burnham said the UK government can ‘confirm our belief that Iran was involved’ in the Fairford Air Force incident,” he wrote in X. “It confirms Iran’s belief that the release of terrorists who were allegedly working for a foreign country really says it all. You are barking up the wrong tree.”
The Royal Air Force base, 100 miles west of London, has been used by U.S. bombers in decades of Middle East conflicts, including the U.S.-Israel war against Iran that began in February. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has previously said it considers bases used to attack its territory to be legitimate targets.
After a three-day investigation that included the dispatch of a bomb disposal team, police said on Tuesday that no explosives were found inside the car, but they did recover a “large quantity of petrol”.
Meanwhile, senior U.S. officials criticized the decision to grant the suspects bail, with President Donald Trump saying, “I wouldn’t have done that,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying many Americans were “disturbed” by the move.
Britain’s counter-terrorism police chief Lawrence Taylor said on Tuesday that the suspects were still under investigation and that decisions to grant bail were based on “experience and strategy”.
He said the investigation focused on whether these alleged crimes were committed by “agents or individuals working, knowingly or unknowingly, for a foreign country.”
Adding to the intrigue surrounding Sunday’s events, The Times reported that one of the men called emergency services shortly before his arrest in the early morning hours.
“Whether it was surveillance, a ‘dry run’ to test safety, or a stunt to send a message to the British government are all being considered,” the Times said, adding that investigators were unsure whether he was displeased or part of the plan.
The paper did not identify the source.
Police declined to comment on whether one of the suspects made the call.
