British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday that intelligence assessments indicate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was almost certainly responsible for directing a suspected terrorist plot targeting RAF Fairford, a British air base previously used by American bombers for strikes against Iran.
Addressing parliament, Burnham said British authorities believe the operation was organized from Iranian territory.
“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 lawmakers, as quoted by the Reuters news agency.
The suspected plot prompted a major security operation near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, southwestern England, where five British men were arrested in the early hours of September 27 on suspicion of terrorism and explosives-related offenses.
American officials previously told Reuters that investigators suspected an Iranian-linked plan to attack the base using drones.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said a threat connected to Iran had led Washington to withdraw its bombers from RAF Fairford.
Iran has denied involvement in the incident and challenged Britain to produce evidence supporting its accusations.
“Tehran has had no involvement in this matter, and if the British government possesses any documents or evidence to support its claims, it should present them," Iranian Ambassador to Britain Seyed Ali Mousavi said, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.
Although British officials have publicly attributed the suspected operation to Iran, several details of the investigation remain unresolved.
The five men initially detained were subsequently released without charge on police bail “under stringent conditions". Two additional suspects, including a British-Iranian national, were also released.
Investigators reported finding petrol in vans seized during the operation but said no viable explosive devices had been discovered.
Burnham pledged to take additional measures against Iranian-backed networks operating in Britain.
“We will not tolerate these threats on our soil," Burnham said. “We 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."