Iran denies link to suspected UK airbase terror plot
Armed police guard RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK, following a major security incident, September 27, 2026. © Marcin Nowak / Anadolu via Getty Images
Iran has denied any ties to a suspected terrorist plot targeting a UK airbase that houses US bombers flying missions against Iran.
On Sunday, police arrested five men on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act after receiving a report of suspicious vehicles near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, southwestern England. However, all the suspects were unexpectedly released on bail the following day after “extensive interviews and enquiries,” according to Laurence Taylor, the head of the UK’s National Counter Terrorism Policing.
Without providing many details, Taylor said police were investigating whether the offense was “committed by proxies, or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state.” Reuters, citing a person familiar with the probe, reported that investigators were considering whether Iran or Russia may have been involved, as well as unspecified Islamist groups.
“The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran to [the] arrest of five suspects in the vicinity of RAF Fairford base,” Iran’s mission in London said in a statement on X on Monday.
The embassy added that “such fabricated speculations” would only “fuel Iranophobia propaganda in the UK.”
Police cordoned off the vicinity of the base. According to the BBC, a bomb squad worked at the scene, using a remote-controlled robot to inspect white vans parked in a wooded area.
Although Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned in July that the UK would become a “definite and legitimate target” if it supported the US bombing campaign, Tehran has not claimed responsibility for any attacks outside the Middle East.
Iran has fired missiles and drones at Gulf states, which it described as legitimate targets for retaliation because they host American bases used to launch attacks against Iran.
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