UK says Iran may be linked to alleged airbase plot, drawing angry denial

Prime Minister Andy Burnham says the UK has ‘strong indications’ that Iran was involved in an alleged security incident at an RAF base used by the US.

A B1 bomber prepares to take off as police officers man a checkpoint near RAF Fairford airbase, in Fairford, England, on September 29, 2026 [Alastair Grant/AP]

The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there are “strong indications” that Iran played a role in an alleged security incident at an airbase used by the United States, prompting a forceful denial by Tehran.

Burnham told the BBC broadcaster on Wednesday that investigations into the suspected plot at the Royal Air Force base in Fairford were ongoing. Five British men in their 20s were arrested near the base on Sunday, on suspicion of “terrorism” and explosives offences. They were all released on bail a day later.

list 1 of 3 UK: ‘Too soon’ to blame airbase plot on foreign state

list 2 of 3 Bail for RAF base suspects suggests no evidence of ‘terror’, say analysts

list 3 of 3 ‘Strong indications’ Iran linked to suspected UK airbase plot

“There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but of course it remains an ongoing, complex and serious police investigation,” Burnham said. “We are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America.”

He did not provide details about what the suspects were planning or why the UK thinks Iran was involved.

But the prime minister said he would “update people more in due course”.

Burnham’s comments marked the first time a British official had publicly linked Iran to the events at the base.

Iran, however, has strongly denied any involvement in the incident and the country’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, hit back at Burnham’s allegations.

“PM Burnham says the UK Government ‘can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part’ in the RAF Fairford incident,” he wrote on X. “I can confirm Iran’s belief that releasing supposed terrorists working for foreign states really says it all. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

The RAF base 160km west of London has been used by US bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including the US and Israel’s war on Iran, which began in February. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has previously said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.

After three days of investigations, including using a bomb disposal team, police said Tuesday they had found no explosives in the vehicles, but they had retrieved a “quantity of petrol”.

Top US officials have meanwhile criticised the decision to grant the suspects bail, with President Donald Trump saying “I wouldn’t have done that” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying a lot of people were “disturbed” by the move.

Laurence Taylor, the head of British counterterror policing, said on Tuesday that the suspects remain under investigation and the decision to grant bail was grounded in “experience and strategy”.

He said a line of inquiry is whether the suspected offences were committed by “proxies or individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state”.

Adding ⁠to the intrigue around Sunday’s events, The Times reported that one of the men called emergency services shortly before being arrested in the early hours.

“Whether it was surveillance, a ‘dry run’ to test security or a stunt to ‌send a message to the British government are all under consideration,” The Times said, adding that investigators were unsure whether he got cold feet or it was part ‌of ‌a plan.

The newspaper did not cite its sources.

Police declined to comment on whether one of the suspects had made the call.

英国首相安迪·伯纳姆表示，英国有“强烈迹象”表明伊朗参与了美国使用的皇家空军基地发生的一起安全事件。

2026年9月29日，在英国费尔福德皇家空军基地附近，一架B1轰炸机准备起飞，警察在检查站执勤。[阿拉斯泰尔·格兰特/美联社]

英国首相安迪·伯纳姆表示，有“强烈迹象”表明伊朗参与了美国使用的空军基地发生的一起安全事件，德黑兰方面对此予以强烈否认。

伯纳姆周三告诉BBC，对费尔福德皇家空军基地疑似阴谋的调查仍在进行中。周日，五名二十多岁的英国男子在基地附近被捕，他们涉嫌“恐怖主义”和爆炸物犯罪。一天后，他们全部获准保释。

英国：现在就将空军基地阴谋归咎于外国政府“为时尚早”

分析人士称，英国皇家空军基地嫌疑人获准保释（名单2/3）表明没有证据表明存在“恐怖主义”行为。

清单3/3 “强烈迹象”表明伊朗与疑似英国空军基地阴谋有关

伯纳姆说：“有强烈的迹象表明，伊朗参与了周末在费尔福德皇家空军基地发生的事件，但这当然仍然是一项正在进行、复杂且严肃的警方调查。我们正与美国同行密切合作。”

他没有提供嫌疑人计划的具体细节，也没有说明英国为何认为伊朗参与其中。

但首相表示，他会在适当的时候“向民众提供更多信息”。

伯纳姆的言论标志着英国官员首次公开将伊朗与该基地发生的事件联系起来。

然而，伊朗强烈否认参与了这起事件，该国外交部长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇反驳了伯纳姆的指控。

“伯纳姆首相说，英国政府‘可以确认我们此前的看法，即我们认为伊朗参与了”费尔福德皇家空军基地事件，”他在X上写道。“我可以确认伊朗的看法，释放那些被指控为外国效力的恐怖分子，这足以说明一切。你们完全搞错了方向。”

位于伦敦以西160公里的英国皇家空军基地，在数十年的中东冲突中一直被美国轰炸机使用，其中包括今年2月开始的美国和以色列对伊朗的战争。伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队（IRGC）此前曾表示，任何被用于攻击其领土的基地都是其合法攻击目标。

经过三天的调查，包括动用拆弹小组，警方周二表示，他们在车辆中没有发现爆炸物，但找到了“一定数量的汽油”。

与此同时，美国高级官员批评了准予嫌疑人保释的决定，唐纳德·特朗普总统表示“我不会这样做”，国务卿马可·卢比奥表示，很多人对此举感到“不安”。

英国反恐警察负责人劳伦斯·泰勒周二表示，嫌疑人仍在接受调查，准予保释的决定是基于“经验和策略”。

他表示，调查的一个方向是，这些涉嫌犯罪行为是否是由“代理人或个人，无论是有意还是无意，代表外国政府实施的”。

《泰晤士报》报道称，周日发生的事件更加扑朔迷离，其中一名男子在凌晨被捕前不久曾拨打紧急服务电话。

《泰晤士报》称，“无论是监视、测试安全性的‘演练’，还是向英国政府传递信息的噱头，都在考虑之中。”该报还补充说，调查人员不确定他是临阵退缩了，还是这是计划的一部分。

该报没有注明消息来源。

警方拒绝就嫌疑人中是否有人拨打过电话发表评论。