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On Monday, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps almost certainly directed a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, the air base used by US bombers, Al Jazeera reported. Earlier this month he had said only that there were strong indications of an Iranian link.
Burnham said Britain assesses the plot was highly likely to have been coordinated inside Iran. "We will not tolerate these threats on our soil," he said.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced sanctions on two Iranians. Ruhollah Bazghandi, head of Guard counterespionage operations, faces an asset freeze, a travel ban and a bar on serving as a company director. Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki is described as a facilitator for the Zindashti criminal network, which is already under UK sanctions. Miliband also summoned Iran's ambassador, and Burnham promised further sanctions on Iran and the Guard.
Iran denies any role. Ambassador Ali Mousavi met UK Middle East minister Stephen Doughty and called on Britain to provide evidence, while Iranian state media said Tehran is willing to cooperate with the investigation, according to Al Jazeera and the Associated Press.
The case began on 27 September, when police arrested five British men in their 20s near the base on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences and evacuated nearby residents. Officers found petrol in three linked vans but no explosives. Two more people, including a British-Iranian national, were later arrested. All seven have been released on bail and no one has been charged. We covered the first arrests and the withdrawal of US bombers earlier this month.
The Pentagon said the bombers left Fairford last week and returned to their home bases. The Trump administration said it believed the base faced Iranian threats to kill US troops and destroy American aircraft.
The attribution came alongside a joint statement from the foreign ministers of the UK, the US and other Western countries, which CBS News also reported. It condemned Iranian attacks on their territory and cited lethal plotting, arson, sabotage and cyber operations.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the case reflects a wider pattern of hostile activity by Iran and other states. British officials reported a 50% rise in national security cases involving hostile states in the six months to December 2025. They also said Iran-linked proxies were behind arson and other attacks in the US and Britain, some of them aimed at Jewish communities.
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