British airbase plot ‘directed’ by Iran Guards
London, GREAT BRITAIN—Britain’s government on Monday accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of being behind a major scare at a UK airbase used by the United States, as allies including Washington warned Tehran against hostile acts.
Iran denied any involvement. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the British parliament that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “almost certainly directed” an incident at the Royal Air Force base of Fairford in southwest England last month.
The United States, which had been using the base for its war in Iran, abruptly withdrew all its B-1 bombers from the site last week after the mysterious episode on Sept. 27.
Burnham said Britain’s assessment of the incident was that it “is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard.”
“We will not tolerate these threats on our soil. We will crack down on Iran’s use of criminal networks, using our full range of powers to target them and their funding streams,” he told members of parliament.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that “the Iranian ambassador in London, Ali Moussavi, has again categorically rejected the accusations concerning Tehran’s role in the incident at the Fairford military base” and “called on the British government to present evidence supporting its allegations if it possesses any.”
Shortly after Burnham spoke to parliament, 29 countries, including the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, France and Germany, released a joint statement denouncing “in the strongest terms Iran’s use of violent attacks.”
