LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The United Kingdom and a number of allies have warned Iran over the suspected terrorist plot at a U.S.-operated military air base in England last month.
On September 27, police arrested five people from a village near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, which is a Royal Air Force station used by the U.S. Air Force to launch bombers to attack Iran in the ongoing Middle East war.
The police said the arrest followed a report of three suspicious vehicles travelling towards the base. A major incident was declared and nearby households were evacuated while British Army bomb disposal specialists examined the vehicles. The next day, the head of Counter Terrorism Policing announced that the five suspects had all been released on bail. Two other people were later arrested and released on bail, and none of them has been charged so far.
Following the security alert and concerns over potential drone or targeted attacks, the U.S. Air Force withdrew its heavy bombers from RAF Fairford back to home bases in the United States.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that there were 'strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened.' This was denied by the Iranian Embassy in London.
On Monday, he told the House of Commons, 'I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard.'
'We will not tolerate these threats on our soil. We will crack down on Iran's use of criminal networks, using our full range of powers to target them and their funding streams,' he told the lawmakers.
Burnham announced that his government plans to impose further sanctions to restrict the capacity of Iran and the IRGC to attack Britain.
Following this, the Governments of 29 countries issued a statement recognizing the United Kingdom's attribution of Iran's involvement in the incident at RAF Fairford.
They warned that 'Anyone who conducts hostile activities on behalf of Iran, or any other state, should know that we will take action to identify, investigate, disrupt, and prosecute these acts'. 'Iran should be in no doubt that we are united and remain committed to safeguarding our sovereignty and strengthening our international coordination, bolstering our national resilience, protecting our communities, and ensuring that those responsible are held to account,' the statement added.
They noted that the suspected terrorist plot comes soon after the recent campaign of attacks across Europe targeting Jewish communities, Iranian journalists, and U.S. interests, claimed by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya. Commonly known as Ashab al-Yamin or HAYI, it is a pro-Iranian Islamist group that has taken credit for attacks against Jewish schools, synagogues and charities in Europe, as well as American, Israeli and Iranian opposition targets, since March this year.
The statement was jointly issued by the Governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
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