LONDON — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday his government believes that Iran was involved in suspicious activity at a UK airbase that triggered a major security scare this weekend.“There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford,” Burnham told the BBC, referring to Sunday’s bomb scare near the airbase in southwest England, which is used by the US military in its war against Iran.“Of course it remains an ongoing, complex, and serious police investigation,” said Burnham. He did not provide further details.Iran’s embassy in London earlier said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” speculation it was involved in the incident. Police said on Tuesday that no explosives were found at the scene.The nature of the threat has not been explained by officials.Burnham’s comments are the first official confirmation from UK authorities that Iran may have had a hand in the incident, which saw three white vans appearing to head towards RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sunday.A local resident who rang the police said she saw a group of masked men near the vans, which were blocking a road in a village next to the military base.Iran has responded, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying the UK leader was “barking up the wrong tree”.”I can confirm Iran’s belief that releasing supposed terrorists working for foreign states really says it all,” he wrote on social media.Asked why the suspects had been released on bail, a decision which has been openly questioned by President Donald Trump, Burnham insisted the men were subject to the “strictest possible bail conditions”.Burnham said: “I think people need to understand that when it says released — that isn’t as people might think. It’s obviously with the strictest possible bail conditions.”The authorities have this under the strongest grip and closest control, and I can assure you of that.”Burnham’s comments come after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the incident at RAF Fairford “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor”.In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Rubio said “I think it ties us to the reality here, and that is we are dealing with elements in the world, and in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally”.Burnham said that the government had been “talking to our counterparts in the United States all week to explain what is happening here, how things are being done”, and that he had “complete confidence in the way British security services are handling this”.”We will say more in due course but we can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part,” he told the BBC.Burnham’s comments came after it emerged that one of the five men had dialled 999 himself before the group were arrested.The five men were arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning after police were alerted to “three suspicious vehicles” in Whelford, a village which lies directly east of the base.They are all UK nationals aged between 23 and 25. Four of them live in Westminster and one in Camden, and searches of their homes are now complete.Police said a quantity of petrol but no explosive devices were found during searches of the vans.The RAF base has been used as a forward operating location by the US Air Force for decades.In recent months, US bombers have taken off from the base for the Middle East, after the UK approved a US request to use it for what it called defensive strikes on Iran.LONDON — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday his government believes that Iran was involved in suspicious activity at a UK airbase that triggered a major security scare this weekend.“There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford,” Burnham told the BBC, referring to Sunday’s bomb scare near the airbase in southwest England, which is used by the US military in its war against Iran.“Of course it remains an ongoing, complex, and serious police investigation,” said Burnham. He did not provide further details.Iran’s embassy in London earlier said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” speculation it was involved in the incident. Police said on Tuesday that no explosives were found at the scene.The nature of the threat has not been explained by officials.Burnham’s comments are the first official confirmation from UK authorities that Iran may have had a hand in the incident, which saw three white vans appearing to head towards RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sunday.A local resident who rang the police said she saw a group of masked men near the vans, which were blocking a road in a village next to the military base.Iran has responded, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying the UK leader was “barking up the wrong tree”.”I can confirm Iran’s belief that releasing supposed terrorists working for foreign states really says it all,” he wrote on social media.Asked why the suspects had been released on bail, a decision which has been openly questioned by President Donald Trump, Burnham insisted the men were subject to the “strictest possible bail conditions”.Burnham said: “I think people need to understand that when it says released — that isn’t as people might think. It’s obviously with the strictest possible bail conditions.”The authorities have this under the strongest grip and closest control, and I can assure you of that.”Burnham’s comments come after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the incident at RAF Fairford “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor”.In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Rubio said “I think it ties us to the reality here, and that is we are dealing with elements in the world, and in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally”.Burnham said that the government had been “talking to our counterparts in the United States all week to explain what is happening here, how things are being done”, and that he had “complete confidence in the way British security services are handling this”.”We will say more in due course but we can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part,” he told the BBC.Burnham’s comments came after it emerged that one of the five men had dialled 999 himself before the group were arrested.The five men were arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning after police were alerted to “three suspicious vehicles” in Whelford, a village which lies directly east of the base.They are all UK nationals aged between 23 and 25. Four of them live in Westminster and one in Camden, and searches of their homes are now complete.Police said a quantity of petrol but no explosive devices were found during searches of the vans.The RAF base has been used as a forward operating location by the US Air Force for decades.In recent months, US bombers have taken off from the base for the Middle East, after the UK approved a US request to use it for what it called defensive strikes on Iran.
UK believes Iran involved in airbase incident, Burnham says
