British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham has accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of being behind a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire airbase that has hosted American bombers used in operations involving Iran.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Burnham said the government’s assessment is that the plan was highly likely to have been coordinated inside Iran and almost certainly directed by the IRGC. He said Britain “will not tolerate these threats on our soil”. He promised a crackdown on the criminal networks Tehran is accused of using, with powers aimed at those networks and their funding, and said further sanctions would follow to limit the ability of Iran and the IRGC to harm Britain.

The incident began in the early hours of September 27, when five British men in their twenties were arrested near the base on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences. The arrests followed reports of suspicious vans approaching the site. The men were later released without charge on police bail under strict conditions, and police said they were examining whether a foreign state was involved.

Monday’s statement is the government’s most direct attribution so far. Around the end of September, Burnham had said only that there were strong indications of Iranian involvement. The US also removed its B1 bombers from the base about a week after the arrests.

Iran has rejected any suggestion that it played a part, dismissing the claim as baseless and malicious speculation. The IRGC had earlier warned that bases supporting attacks on Iranian territory could be treated as targets.

Separately, a statement from the foreign ministries of almost 30 countries, including the United States and Canada, condemned what it called Iranian attacks and pledged action against anyone acting on Tehran’s behalf. It said the incident showed the IRGC’s willingness to project hostile activity beyond Iran’s borders through covert networks and proxy actors.

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