Iran's ambassador summoned as Burnham blames the IRGC for the RAF Fairford plot on Monday, Oct. 12
Andy Burnham used a Commons statement on Monday to name Iran's Revolutionary Guard as almost certainly behind the September plot against RAF Fairford. Two Iranian men were sanctioned, the Iranian ambassador was summoned, and more than 20 countries joined a statement condemning Tehran.
Iran's ambassador to London was summoned to the Foreign Office on Monday after the Prime Minister told MPs that the suspected terror plot against RAF Fairford was almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In a statement to the Commons on Monday, 12 October, Andy Burnham said the official assessment was that the plot was highly likely to have been co-ordinated in Iran. He pledged a crackdown on Iran's use of criminal networks in Britain, with further sanctions aimed at the networks and the money that funds them.
The plot centres on September 27, when three suspicious vans were stopped close to the Gloucestershire air base, which was hosting US bombers. Seven people were arrested and bailed. Police found no explosive materials in the vans, but a quantity of petrol was seized.
any attempt by Iran to threaten, silence, intimidate, harass, harm, or coerce people on our territories through proxies or any other means is unacceptableJoint statement led by the US State Department and endorsed by more than 20 countries, 12 October 2026, reported by the Press Association
Two men were placed under sanctions on Monday, facing an immediate asset freeze and a travel ban: Ruhollah Bazghandi, who heads the IRGC's counterespionage operations, and Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki, a facilitator of the Zindashti criminal network.
The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, told MPs that investigators believed a known individual based in Iran had co-ordinated the plot. The Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, said in a statement that Iran's use of criminal networks, proxy groups and state-backed activity against the United Kingdom and its partners was unacceptable.
Washington led the international response. A joint statement released by the US State Department, endorsed by more than 20 countries, condemned Iran and said the Fairford episode showed the IRGC's readiness to project hostile activity overseas through covert networks and proxy actors.
The US bombers stationed at Fairford were withdrawn after the September incident, though the reason the Pentagon took them out has never been made clear. Monday's attribution lands while the US and Iran are at war, three months after Sir Keir Starmer's government banned support for the IRGC in July.
None to date. The Journal corrects errors promptly and transparently. Read our corrections policy.
