The British government is claiming that last month’s terrorism scare at RAF Fairford air base was “almost certainly” a scheme designed by Iran.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham made the assertion on Monday in the House of Commons, where he announced 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.
“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.”
The prime minister 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.”
Six people have been arrested in connection with the incident, including five British nationals and one British-Iranian dual citizen. The original five were targeted for arrest after a local farmer tipped off police to a suspicious group of people meandering near the base, in vans bearing fake business logos. The base has been used by the United States during the war with Iran. The farmer who tipped off the police told the media that more than five people fled when approached.
The sixth was arrested in London afterward, and the investigation is ongoing.
Laurence Taylor, the head of national counterterrorism policing in the United Kingdom, said during a press conference last month that investigators did not find any improvised explosives in their search of the vans but that “a quantity of petrol was recovered.”
Tehran has fiercely denounced all claims that the five men have ties to the Islamic Republic, saying Iran “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations.”
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband summoned the Iranian ambassador to his ministry on Monday to address “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.”
THWARTED RAF FAIRFORD ATTACK UNDERSCORES THREATS TO US MILITARY AIRCRAFT AND BASES
He 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.
The two Iranian nationals will be subject to asset freezes and travel bans, among other sanctions.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
