The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned British Prime Minister Andy Burnham's claim that a suspected plot targeting a British Royal Air Force base was most probably "coordinated in Iran."
The ministry issued the condemnation after Burnham said earlier in the day that the alleged plot was "almost certainly" directed by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps.
It called Britain's accusation a "sordid plot to advance the anti-Iran campaign and evade accountability for Britain's participation in the US-Israeli military aggression against the Iranian nation."
It said London's use of terms such as "highly likely" and "almost certainly" to lend credibility to its accusations was a "conspicuous" attempt to evade responsibility for its "baseless" claims.
On September 27, British police detained five people, all in their 20s, on suspicion of "explosives and terrorism offenses" near Royal Air Force Fairford in Gloucestershire, after being informed that three vans had been seen heading to the base, which the United States has used to launch strikes against Iran.
The individuals were all released on police bail the next day after police examined the contents of the vans and the addresses linked to them across London.