Iran’s Revolutionary Guards ‘almost certainly’ behind RAF Fairford threats, says Burnham

UK to bring further sanctions against Tehran and IRGC after assessment Iran was likely to have coordinated incident

Andy Burnham said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were “almost certainly” behind threats to RAF Fairford, the firmest attribution of responsibility made so far by the UK after an incident late last month.

Addressing parliament on Monday about events at RAF Fairford, Burnham said: “I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards.”

However, the incident was followed by the withdrawal of 12 B-1 bombers a week later, amid reports that the US was concerned about a possible drone attack on a base it had used to attack Iran during the Middle East war in the spring and summer.

A joint statement from the UK, US and other European allies, released by the Foreign Office, added that the UK “has also concluded this event demonstrates the IRGC’s continued willingness to project hostile activity beyond its borders through covert networks and proxy actors”.

British sources have repeatedly maintained that Iran lacks the capability to launch what would be a sophisticated drone attack, but the incident appears to have unnerved the US, which is worried about the security of its bases in Europe.

Though the US has detained and indicted Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, who it accuses of being behind the HAYI group, there is evidence to suggest that Iran-linked attacks have continued.

Prosecutors told a magistrates court the pair were in contact with a third party, believed to be in Iran, who directed them and sent them “instructions on how to prepare an explosive device”. A trial at the Old Bailey has been scheduled.