Britain Warns of Iranian Plots Targeting Military Bases After Airfield Incident
Intelligence officials assessed that Tehran is expanding operations beyond dissidents to Western defence installations using local criminal proxies.
The head of Britain's domestic intelligence agency warned that Iran is attempting to attack military sites in the United Kingdom and abroad. Speaking at Thames House in London, MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum said an alleged airfield plot reflected a wider shift in Iranian intent.
Emergency teams evacuated residents near Royal Air Force Fairford in Gloucestershire on September 27 after finding gasoline inside three vans. Investigators found no explosives at the base, which is roughly 100 miles west of London. The United States military subsequently moved its B-1 and B-52 strategic bombers from the base back to the continental United States.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told lawmakers that the operation was almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. British police made arrests in connection with the incident, and all suspects were released on bail under investigation.
The Associated Press and The South China Morning Post reported that police arrested six individuals. Subsequent reports from the Associated Press and The Times of India said authorities arrested seven men in their 20s.
McCallum stated that Iran faces operational limits in Europe. Because of these limits, Tehran relies on local criminal proxies that lack sophisticated capabilities. McCallum added that the agency's workload countering threats from Iran, Russia, and China has quadrupled over the last decade.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the claims an unfounded conspiracy, while its London embassy denied involvement. Iranian diplomats summoned British Ambassador Hugo Shorter in Tehran, warning that Iran would reconsider bilateral diplomatic relations without evidence. Seyed Ali Mousavi, the Iranian ambassador to London, stated that bases supporting operations against Iran are legitimate targets.
RAF Fairford had served as an operational staging ground for American bombers during strikes against Iranian sites earlier this year. British intelligence services previously focused on Iranian plots against dissidents, Persian-language journalists, and Jewish community sites.
British authorities have arrested more than 50 people tied to Iranian threats over the past year. In response, the Foreign Office sanctioned Iranian official Ruhollah Bazghandi and criminal facilitator Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki. Burnham pledged to introduce further sanctions and use statutory national security powers to dismantle Iranian proxy illicit financing networks.
Counterterrorism detectives continue to investigate the suspects and networks connected to the Fairford breach. While heavy bombers departed RAF Fairford, the United States continues to fly fighter jets and refueling tankers from other British bases.
