Britain blames Iran's Revolutionary Guard for suspected plot at RAF Fairford

Britain has accused Iran of being behind a suspected plot at RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire air base used by American bombers in the war against Iran. Prime Minister Andy Burnham told MPs on Monday that the government’s assessment was that the incident was “highly likely to have been co-ordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard”.

He said Britain would crack down on Iran’s use of criminal networks to act on British soil and bring further sanctions to limit the ability of Iran and the IRGC to cause harm.

Envoy summoned, two Iranians sanctioned

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband ordered his department to summon Iran’s ambassador. “Britain will not tolerate threats on our soil,” he said in a statement, calling Iran’s “continued attempts to undermine the security of the United Kingdom and international partners” unacceptable.

Two Iranian nationals were sanctioned with immediate effect, facing an asset freeze, a travel ban and disqualification as company directors. They are Ruhollah Bazghandi, head of counter-espionage operations in the IRGC, and Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki, described as a facilitator for the Zindashti criminal network.

What happened at Fairford

The alarm was raised just after midnight on Sunday 27 September, when police were told that three suspicious vehicles were heading towards the base. A farmer in the nearby village of Whelford found her driveway blocked by what she described as a large group of hooded and masked men, and called 999.

Armed officers arrested five men, all British nationals living in London and aged between 23 and 25. Around 85 households were told to leave their homes as a bomb disposal robot examined the vans. Police later said no explosive devices were found, though a quantity of petrol was recovered.

Two more men have been arrested since: a 25-year-old dual British and Iranian national on 1 October and a 22-year-old British national on 6 October. All seven are on police bail and no one has been charged. Counter Terrorism Policing has said it is considering every angle, including a foreign state or its proxies.

At the time, Iran’s embassy in London rejected any link to the arrests and called the speculation malicious.

Why the base matters

RAF Fairford is home to the US Air Force’s 501st Combat Support Wing. American B-1 and B-2 bombers flew from it during strikes on Iran, after the British government in March approved “defensive” US action from Fairford and Diego Garcia. The bombers were moved out after the suspected plot, though it is not clear why.

Burnham’s predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, banned support for the IRGC in July, and the group has since been designated under Britain’s new state threats powers. When the first arrests were made, officials had not linked Iran to the incident, though they did not rule it out.