U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament on Monday that Iran was presumably tied with the alleged terror plot against RAF Fairford last month, which led to multiple arrests and individuals released on bail.
“I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard,” Burnham said.
🚨 BREAKING: Andy Burnham says the RAF Fairford plot was "almost certainly" directed by Iran's IRGC https://t.co/jaRrB9x1W2
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) October 12, 2026
After Burnham’s comments, the U.S. government issued a statement with numerous other countries, including the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and many other European nations to “condemn in the strongest terms Iran’s use of violent attacks.”
“We recognize the United Kingdom’s attribution of Iran’s involvement in the incident at RAF Fairford on 27 September,” the statement read. “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.”
I welcome the statement by 29 Allies & partners and echo their denouncement of Iran’s involvement in violence and threats on Allied territory, including the incident at RAF Fairford on 27 September NATO will continue to do its part to safeguard the security of our one billion people across the Alliance https://t.co/BljdkIpHCx
— Mark Rutte (@SecGenNATO) October 12, 2026
"Any attempt by Iran to threaten, silence, intimidate, harass, harm, or coerce people on our territories through proxies or any other means is unacceptable,” the statement continued.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised the statement, posting that he "welcome[s] the statement by 29 Allies & partners and echo their denouncement of Iran’s involvement in violence and threats on Allied territory."
The last official statement from Counter Terrorism Policing in the UK on the incident came on October 6, with senior national coordinator Vicki Evans saying that authorities “remain committed to investigating all possible angles.” Seven men in total were taken into custody and released on bail. The men were all UK nationals, including one dual UK/Iranian national, and all are in their 20s.
The United States Air Force has since pulled their bombers out of the base.
“While operational security precluded us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real-time, we can acknowledge now that all U.S. bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have re-deployed to the United States," a Pentagon official said at the time.