Make New York Post a Preferred Source Iran is believed to be involved in a suspected terror incident at a UK base used by US bombers headed to the Middle East, Britain’s Prime Minister confirmed on Wednesday.
“There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford,” Andy Burnham told reporters when asked about Sunday’s events at the base in southwest England.
“We can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part,” he said, adding that British authorities “are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America.”
The five suspects arrested over the weekend on suspicion of preparing a terror attack were all released on bail.
But Burnham insisted that the five — all British nationals in their early 20s — were not under regular bail conditions.
“When it says ‘released,’ that isn’t as people might think. It’s obviously with the strictest possible bail conditions,” he said.
British counterterrorism police did not name Iran in relation to the incident.
The five were arrested after one of the suspects called the police, the Times of London reported on Tuesday.
This challenged earlier reports that a local farmer made the first call to the cops after spotting the three suspicious-looking vans full of masked individuals on a country lane near the village of Whelford early Sunday morning.
The three vans, which featured an apparently fake company name and phone number on the side, were later found to contain fuel and not explosive materials as earlier thought.
None of the suspects have been named since their release on Monday.
Iran has strongly denied any involvement in Sunday’s incident near the base.
RAF Fairford is used by the US Air Force for strikes on Iran because of its extended, two-mile-long runway, specially reinforced to carry B-1 and B-52 bombers.
