London.- The Government of Iran denied this Monday having any connection to the incident that occurred yesterday near a military base in Fairford, in Gloucestershire (southwest England), currently under investigation by British counter-terrorism police, according to a statement issued by that country’s embassy in London.
Furthermore, British police announced today that the five people arrested yesterday in this operation are all British citizens, young men between 23 and 25 years old and residents of London -whose identities are unknown- on suspicion of alleged crimes defined under the Explosives Act and for the preparation of a terrorist act.
The Iranian embassy stated in a release on its X account that the connection evoked by many British media outlets to that incident near a British military base used by U.S. forces is a response to “malicious and baseless speculation,” with no other purpose than to “fuel the propaganda of Iranophobia in the United Kingdom.”
In light of those reports—which have already been picked up by numerous British media outlets—the embassy warns that it reserves the right to resort to “appropriate legal measures” to respond to “false and harmful narratives.”
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Although the media took the ‘Iranian connection’ for granted yesterday, the national coordinator of the counter-terrorism unit, Vicki Evans, warned against jumping to conclusions: “I am very aware of the levels of speculation about the motivations for this incident, and the geopolitical issues that have been evoked. However, at this moment we ask that you give us space to work.”
British bases used by the US
The ‘Iranian lead’ was evoked yesterday from the very first moment because the military establishment that was supposedly the target of the five detainees is a British military base that is also used by U.S. forces.
During the term of the previous prime minister, Keir Starmer, the United Kingdom allowed U.S. aviation to use its bases in its war against Iran but only for defensive purposes.
Last July, Iran warned all countries that allow the use of their territory to attack them that they could henceforth be considered legitimate targets, which it has carried out on several occasions in the Arab countries allied with the U.S. in the Persian Gulf, which it has attacked repeatedly.
U.S. President Donald Trump himself has referred to the thwarted operation on British soil but has been careful not to point to Iran.
Trump said yesterday in a statement that those arrested “were looking to cause great harm to our fortress,” but he did not elaborate on details, and added: “We had them under surveillance for a long time and we captured them.”
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Trump’s words seem to contradict reports from the British press, which point out that it was a neighbor of the base who observed suspicious movement of masked people getting out of white vans and notified the police, which precipitated the arrests of the five individuals.
