<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The British government has stated that last month’s terrorism scare at RAF Fairford air base was “almost certainly” a scheme orchestrated by Iran.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Prime Minister Andy Burnham made this assertion on Monday in the House of Commons, announcing that his government would take immediate action to combat Iranian infiltration of criminal networks and reduce their ability to manipulate actors in the United Kingdom.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard,” Burnham told Parliament. “We will not tolerate these threats on our soil.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Burnham added that the British government “will crack down on Iran’s use of criminal networks using our full range of powers to target them and their funding streams. And we will bring further sanctions to restrict the capacity of Iran and the IRGC to do us harm.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Six individuals have been arrested in connection with the incident, including five British nationals and one British-Iranian dual citizen. The arrests followed a tip-off from a local farmer regarding a suspicious group near the base, which was using vans with fake business logos. The base has been utilized by the United States during the war with Iran. The farmer reported that more than five individuals fled when approached.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The sixth individual was arrested in London afterward, and the investigation is ongoing.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Laurence Taylor, head of national counterterrorism policing in the United Kingdom, stated during a press conference last month that investigators did not find any improvised explosives in their search of the vans, but “a quantity of petrol was recovered.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Tehran has strongly denied all claims that the five men have ties to the Islamic Republic, stating that Iran “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband summoned the Iranian ambassador to his ministry on Monday to discuss “Iran’s continued attempts to undermine the security of the United Kingdom and international partners through its criminal networks, proxy groups and state-backed malign activity.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Miliband also announced the “designation of two Iranian nationals for their role in facilitating or engaging in hostile activity on behalf of the Iranian regime” — Ruhollah Bazghandi, head of counterespionage operations within the Guard, and Zindashti criminal network “facilitator” Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The two Iranian nationals will face asset freezes and travel bans, among other sanctions.</p>