UK PRIME MINISTER SAYS ‘STRONG INDICATION’ OF IRAN INVOLVEMENT IN RAF FAIRFORD INCIDENT

Wed 30 September 2026:

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there are strong indications Iran had a role in the security incident near the US-run Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford airbase in the UK.

Five men were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of offences including “preparation of a terrorist act” under UK “anti-terrorism” laws. The suspects were released on bail by UK police the following day. British Counter Terrorism police said the five are all UK nationals who are based in London and are aged between 23 and 25.

Burnham told reporters that London is continuing to work with Washington on “an ongoing, complex, and serious police investigation.” US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the suspects were looking to do “big damage”.

Iran denies involvement in the alleged plot on the airbase.

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RAF Fairford incident

Before sunrise, residents were called from their beds and told to evacuate as a huge police operation unfolded in the village, which is next door to RAF Fairford, a base used by the US Air Force.

One villager managed to take a picture of five men sitting on the ground, stripped to the waist, handcuffed and under armed guard.

It is now clear that one of the five men had dialled 999 themselves to alert police to their activities.

They were initially arrested for offences under the Explosives Act. But counter-terrorism detectives say no explosives were found in their three vans, only an “accelerant” – petrol.

What some newspapers at first called a “suspected bomb plot” ended in the suspects being bailed.

The US government has described the security alert over the weekend at the RAF Fairford base in southern England as a “very serious situation,” thanking UK authorities for their cooperation.

But President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also both questioned the move to grant the five suspects bail under strict conditions as investigations against them continue.

Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News that while there was much he could not say on air for now, the security scare during which five young men were detained constituted a very serious situation.

“It’s one that clearly involves the hand of a foreign actor. I won’t get into great detail about that yet,” he said, without mentioning Iran until a later point in the interview in a more hypothetical context.

“I think it ties us to the reality here, and that is we are dealing with elements in the world, and in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally,” Rubio said.

The Iranian Embassy in London, meanwhile, said that it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” of Iranian involvement.

Rubio also echoed President Donald Trump in saying that “a lot of people are disturbed by the news that some of these people have released on bail.”

Trump had mentioned the issue in comments to reporters in the White House earlier on Monday.

“I will tell you, I would have said, ‘Don’t let them have bail.’ I’m surprised that they released them. I wouldn’t have done that,” he said.

The RAF airbase in Gloucestershire has long been used by US and NATO forces. Since March, the US has used it to launch attacks on Iran, and the UK has authorised US bombers based there to strike Iranian missile sites targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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