Alleged plot against US bomber base: London blames Iran's Revolutionary Guards
PM Burnham says Iran's Revolutionary Guards 'almost certainly' directed a plot against RAF Fairford. More than two dozen countries back London; Tehran denies it.
Symbolic image · Photo: Peter Evans / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Britain has blamed Iran's Revolutionary Guards for an alleged plot against the RAF Fairford air base, where US bombers had recently been stationed. The plot was "highly likely" coordinated in Iran and "almost certainly" directed by the Revolutionary Guards, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament on Monday. Seven men had been arrested and later released on bail.
London imposed sanctions on two Iranian nationals, announced a crackdown on Iranian criminal networks and summoned Iran's ambassador. The foreign ministers of the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and 23 other countries condemned Iranian hostile activity on foreign soil in a joint statement.
Iran's foreign ministry rejected the accusations as "unfounded", saying London had offered no evidence and was trying to divert attention from US-Israeli military action against Iran. Ambassador Seyed Ali Mousavi denied any Iranian involvement, according to the IRNA agency, and offered to cooperate with British authorities.