Prime Minister Andy Burnham of Britain said Wednesday that his government believes Iran “played a part” in the incident at an air base in England that has been extensively used by American bombers in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
“There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at R.A.F. Fairford,” Mr. Burnham told the BBC in an interview, referring to the British base about 90 miles outside of London. He added, “It remains an ongoing, complex and serious police investigation, and of course we are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America.”
The arrest of five men early Sunday morning near the base on suspicion of explosives violations and terrorism triggered more than two days of anxiety as the police and military used a bomb disposal robot to examine three white vans used by the men and evacuated more than 85 nearby homes.
In the hours after the men were arrested, Mr. Burnham had publicly urged people not to speculate about their motive or connections to other countries. The five men, who are British citizens, were released on bail on Monday. The authorities said on Tuesday that they had found no explosives in the vans, only an unspecified quantity of gasoline.
In the BBC interview, the prime minister refused to say why the government believes that Iran was connected to the incident. But he said that “obviously I wouldn’t say it lightly.”
The Iranian Embassy in Britain on Monday dismissed any suggestion that its government was involved in any possible attack on the British base.
“The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran to arrest of five suspects in the vicinity of R.A.F. Fairford base,” it said in a statement on social media.
Exactly what happened at the base on Sunday remains murky. A local resident contacted police at around 1:36 a.m. to report seeing suspicious men in masks. But police said they first received a call from someone almost 50 minutes earlier, reporting that three suspicious vehicles were heading toward the base. The Times of London, the BBC and other British news organizations reported Tuesday that police believe that first call came from one of the five men who was later arrested.
Mr. Burnham said that the British authorities have been in contact with their counterparts in the United States as the investigation into the incident continues.
“We’ve been talking to counterparts in the United States all week to explain what is happening here, how things are being done,” he said. “I have complete confidence in the way British security services are handling this.”
On Monday, the U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said publicly that the incident at the British base was connected to a foreign country. He did not say which one, but added that “in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally, we’re going to always take that very seriously.”
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