The United Kingdom’s prime minister, Andy Burnham, has said that a suspected plot against a Royal Air Force (RAF) base used by the United States in the town of Fairford was “almost certainly” directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The allegation on Monday came as the UK announced sanctions on two Iranians over alleged “hostile activity”, raising the diplomatic stakes over the largely unexplained incident for which Tehran has denied any responsibility.

“We will not tolerate these threats on our soil,” Burnham told parliament, promising that the government “will crack down on Iran’s use of criminal networks, using our full range of powers to target them and their funding streams”.

He added that the UK will “bring further sanctions to restrict the capacity of Iran and the IRGC to do us harm”.

The incident near the airbase in southern England occurred in the early hours of September 27, when five British men in their 20s were arrested on suspected “terrorism” and explosives offences.

Police said they found a supply of petrol in three vans linked to the suspects, but no explosives. The men were later released without charge on police bail “under stringent conditions”.

Two others were arrested later, including a British-Iranian national, but were later released. None of the men has been charged, and the source and nature of the threat at Fairford have remained shrouded in mystery.

Sanctions

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Monday that the government was sanctioning two Iranians for their “role in facilitating or engaging in hostile activity on behalf of the Iranian regime”.

One is Ruhollah Bazghandi, the head of IRGC counterespionage operations, who the Foreign Office said is now subject to an asset freeze, a travel ban and a bar on serving as a company director.

The other is Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki, whom British officials described as a facilitator for the Zindashti criminal network. The group is already under UK sanctions and has been accused of involvement in several plots against Iranian dissidents.

Miliband said he had also summoned Iran’s ambassador.

“We have repeatedly made clear to Iran, Britain will not tolerate threats on our soil,” he wrote on X.

Tehran has vehemently rejected the accusations.

On Monday, Iran’s ambassador to the UK, Ali Mousavi, met Stephen Doughty, the UK’s minister for the Middle East, and “categorically rejected” allegations of any Iranian role, urging “the British side to refrain from any unsubstantiated statements”.

Mousavi told UK authorities that Tehran is willing to cooperate with the investigation into the incident, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

Last month, the Iranian embassy in London said in a statement that Tehran “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” the “unfounded and malicious speculations” attempting to link the country to the arrests near Fairford. It warned that such claims will “fuel Iranophobia propaganda”.

RAF Fairford, about 160km (100 miles) west of London, is the preferred European base for US bombers and has served as a staging point for US aircraft in the war on Iran, which began on February 28.

Earlier this month, the US moved its B-52 and B-1 bombers over concerns about a suspected Iranian plot to carry out a complex drone attack on the facility, according to US officials.

Separately on Monday, 29 countries, including the UK, the US, most European states, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, issued a joint statement denouncing “in the strongest terms Iran’s use of violent attacks”.

The statement said such attacks included “acts of lethal plotting, arson, sabotage, cyber-attacks, and other hybrid activities against us and our partners”.

“Any attempt by Iran to threaten, silence, intimidate, harass, harm, or coerce people on our territories through proxies or any other means is unacceptable,” it read.

Sun News/ rabbi