‘Strong indications’ that Iran played role in RAF Fairford incident, says Burnham

There are “strong indications” that Iran played a role in events in which five men were arrested near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire as part of a terror investigation, Andy Burnham has said.

Speaking to the media at the end of the Labour party conference in Liverpool, Burnham said he could not give any more details amid a police investigation, but that Iran was believed to be involved.

On Tuesday, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said Washington believed “a foreign actor” was involved in the events on Sunday night at the airbase, which has been used by US planes for missions against Iran.

In an interview with BBC News, Burnham said: “There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but of course 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. So it’s ongoing.”

Noting that he had held a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee while in Liverpool, Burnham said: “We are on top of it in every possible way imaginable.”

He added: “We will say more in due course, but we can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part.”

Asked why he believed this, Burnham replied: “Well I can’t go into all of those details, but obviously I wouldn’t say it lightly.”

In a separate interview with Sky News, Burnham was asked if he needed to recall parliament, which is in recess for the party conference season. He replied: “At this stage there is not an urgent need to do that, but should that arise, of course, I wouldn’t hesitate.”

The five men, all in their 20s and from London, were arrested in the Gloucestershire countryside near the airbase after a local woman driving home saw a series of vans and men in masks, and called police.

They were first arrested on explosives charges and then later for preparing acts of terrorism. All five were released on police bail on Monday after an examination of what was found in the vans, and searches of addresses linked to them across London.

On Tuesday the Guardian reported increasing confidence of an Iranian link to the weekend’s events.

The decision to release the men has prompted criticism from the Trump administration, with Rubio saying he was “disturbed” by it.

Questioned by the BBC about US criticism of the bail decision, Burnham said this had happened only with very strict conditions.

He 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. We’ve been talking to counterparts in the United States all week to explain what is happening here, how things are being done. I have complete confidence in the way British security services are handling this.”

It emerged on Tuesday that one of the five men arrested called the police to report the incident.

The local woman who also phoned police subsequently told newspapers that she was alarmed the men had been allowed to get so close to the airbase without apparently being noticed.

However, UK officials and Wes Streeting, the UK defence secretary, have indicated that security services were aware in advance of what was happening.

A statement from Britain’s head of counter-terrorism police hinted that officers swooped on the rural location for several reasons.

Assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor said: “A police response was activated in the early hours of Sunday morning due to a range of information received, including a call from a member of the public about several vehicles acting suspiciously close to RAF Fairford.”

Copyright for this text belongs to The Guardian.