Fairford base: US and 28 countries back Britain's assessment of the IRGC's role

On Monday, 12 October 2026, the US State Department, together with 28 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France and Germany, issued a joint statement condemning the Islamic Republic's violent actions outside Iran's borders and endorsing Britain's assessment of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) role in the plot against RAF Fairford. The statement came a few hours after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke in Parliament.

The signatories condemned plots attributed to the Islamic Republic, including deadly attacks, arson, sabotage, cyberattacks and other hybrid activity against their countries and their allies. They said they would not accept any attempt to threaten, silence, intimidate or harass people living in their countries, whether directly or through proxy groups, and that those acting on behalf of the Islamic Republic would be identified, investigated and prosecuted. The statement also referred to recent attacks in Europe on Jewish communities, Iranian journalists and American interests, for which a group calling itself "Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya" claimed responsibility.

Andy Burnham on the IRGC

On Monday, Andy Burnham told the British Parliament that the plot to attack Fairford was very likely coordinated in Iran and almost certainly directed by the IRGC. According to him, the British government will not tolerate security threats on its soil and will use every legal means to target the criminal networks used by the Islamic Republic and their sources of funding. He announced further sanctions against the Islamic Republic and the IRGC.

RAF Fairford, in south-west England, has hosted American strategic bombers. Donald Trump had previously said that threats linked to the Islamic Republic led US B-1 bombers to leave the base, and American officials had reported a possible drone attack plan against it.

Ambassador summoned and Rouhollah Bazghandi sanctioned

The British Foreign Office summoned the Islamic Republic's ambassador in London to convey the country's protest over the Iranian government's use of criminal networks and proxy groups against the security of Britain and its allies. London also sanctioned two Iranian nationals at the same time; one of them is Rouhollah Bazghandi, an official of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, whom Britain considers involved in planning or carrying out attacks against Britain and other countries.

The US Treasury Department sanctioned Bazghandi in 2023–24 over the activities of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, including the detention of foreign nationals, and in 2024–25 the US Justice Department charged him in the case of the plot to assassinate Masih Alinejad, a journalist critical of the Islamic Republic, in New York.

Seyed Ali Mousavi, the Islamic Republic's ambassador in London, once again denied the government's role in the case when he met Stephen Doughty, Britain's Foreign Office minister for the Middle East, according to the Islamic Republic's state news agency, even as 29 countries have now endorsed Britain's intelligence assessment.

Background to the Fairford case

Five British men were arrested in the early hours of Sunday, 27 September, near RAF Fairford on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences, and the number of detainees later rose to seven. All of them have been released without formal charges, on bail with strict conditions, and British counter-terrorism police say the investigation into the possible involvement of a foreign state is continuing.

The case has led to a joint international position at a time when the IRGC has, in recent weeks, test-fired dozens of missiles and threatened data centres in the region, and attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz continue.

29 countries led by the United States accepted Britain's assessment that the IRGC was behind the plot against RAF Fairford.