Nobody has been charged and no explosives were ever found, yet the British government now says it knows who stood behind the alarm at RAF Fairford. Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the episode was “almost certainly directed” by the IRGC, Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards – his firmest attribution since the night in late September that put the base on alert.
The Gloucestershire airfield, about 160 km west of London, is Washington’s favoured European home for heavy bombers and was a launch point for American aircraft during the war with Iran that began on Feb. 28. Shortly after midnight on Sept. 27, officers arrested five men from London, all in their twenties, close to the perimeter fence; their three vans contained petrol but nothing that could explode. All five were bailed under tight conditions. Two people picked up later, one a British-Iranian dual national, were also let go, and what the group intended has never been spelled out.
The Americans clearly took it seriously: roughly a week afterwards, a dozen B-1 bombers left Fairford, reportedly over fears of a drone strike. British officials, by contrast, doubt that Tehran could mount such a sophisticated operation, and some analysts read the affair as a demonstration of reach rather than a genuine attack.
London’s answer mixes diplomacy with sanctions. Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, summoned Iran’s ambassador and froze the assets of two men, who are also barred from entering the UK or acting as company directors: Ruhollah Bazghandi, who runs the Guards’ counterespionage branch, and a second man, Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki, described as a fixer for the already-sanctioned Zindashti criminal network. Burnham promised further measures. In parallel, 29 governments including the US, Canada and most of Europe signed a statement condemning Iranian plotting, arson, sabotage and cyber-attacks on their soil.
Iran’s envoy, Ali Mousavi, rejected the accusations outright, told Britain to produce evidence and said Tehran was willing to assist the investigation.
