UK Prime Minister: Strong Indications Link Iran to Suspected Fairford Airbase Plot; Tehran Denies

According to Al Jazeera, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday, 8 Mehr 1405 (September 30, 2026), that British security services had found "strong indications" of Iranian involvement in a suspected plot at the RAF station near Fairford. Five British men arrested near the base on Sunday were released on bail with strict conditions after a three-day counterterrorism investigation found no explosives in their vehicles, though some petrol was recovered. The base has previously been used for US operations, including deploying bombers in the war against Iran.

Burnham gave no details of what the suspects allegedly planned or why the UK suspects Iran, saying only that more information would follow "in due course." In the US, President Donald Trump said the case "might be" Iran-linked, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it "clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor" without naming one. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had forewarned the UK of a potential "Iranian-sponsored attack." Iran's embassy in London "categorically rejected" the allegations, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Britain was "barking up the wrong tree."