By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-10-01 14:11:47 | Updated at 2026-10-01 15:08:38
1 hour ago
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said that there is a “strong indication” that the Islamist regime in Iran was involved in the alleged terror plot on the RAF base at Fairford, which stands as one of the most critical overseas Air Force bases for the United States.
The curious case of the terror attack on RAF Fairford that wasn’t took another turn on Wednesday evening, as Prime Minister Burnham doubled down on the suggestion that Tehran likely had involvement in allegedly plotting to attack the air base used by America during Operation Epic Furry.
Speaking to Sky News, Burnham said: “We have been waiting to confirm what we could say, but we can now confirm our belief that Iran played a part. I will update people more in due course, but just at this moment I want to thank Gloucestershire police, the counterterrorism police, for the outstanding job that they’ve done.”
This backs up claims from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said on Tuesday that the incident “clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor” and U.S. President Donald Trump, who said on Sunday that London and Washington had been surveilling the suspects for a “long time” prior to the arrest of five men on Sunday near the base.
While UK counter-terror police immediately signalled that they were considering Iranian involvement, the case has since taken multiple strange turns, with the five suspects first being identified as “British nationals” on Monday before being released on bail just hours later.
Commenting on the case on Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, said: “Proud of the excellent collaboration with UK authorities on the situation near RAF Fairford. In the face of threats from hostile actors, our two countries are working together to keep our citizens safe, at home and abroad.”
It was also revealed on Tuesday that despite having evacuated some 85 homes on Sunday for fear of a bombing attack, there were not in fact any explosives found in the possession of the suspects, leading to speculation over whether there had been an attack planned at all or whether authorities had jumped the gun following a report from a local farmer about suspicious men in vans near the critical base.
Adding another layer of ambiguity to the timeline, reports also emerged on Tuesday indicating that one of the suspects apparently attempted to phone Britain’s emergency 999 hotline shortly before being arrested on Sunday.
Although the five men have been released on bail, police have said that they are still under investigation. Suggestions have emerged that the incident on Sunday may have been a test run to test the resilience of the base’s defences and response time, or a way to distract police.
Regardless, the incident has led to increased concern over the long arm of Iran in Britain, particularly given that thousands of Iranian illegal migrants have broken into the country via the English Channel people smuggling route.
Commenting on the issue, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told News 24: “The fear is that the Iranian regime has been using the boats crossing the English Channel to get its operatives into our country.”
“The fact is that all over the West there is a very, very extreme, incredibly dangerous Islamist threat, let’s just be frank about that,” Farage added.
