Iran demands evidence from Britain to support its accusations in the Fairford base incident

Iran on Monday renewed its denial of any involvement in an incident that occurred in late September at a military base in England used by the American army in its war against Tehran, after Prime Minister Andy Burnham suggested it was involved.

The IRNA news agency reported that "the Iranian ambassador to London, Ali Mousavi, once again categorically rejected the accusations related to Tehran's role in the Fairford military base incident."

The Iranian official agency added that the diplomat "called on the British government to provide evidence that supports its accusations, if any."

This comes after the British government on Monday accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard of being behind the incident that caused a major security alert at the Fairford Air Base used by the United States, and it, along with its allies, warned Tehran against carrying out hostile actions on their soil.

Speaking about the security event before the House of Commons, Burnham said: “Our assessment is that it was very likely coordinated in Iran, and almost certainly directed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.”

After the incident last week, the United States suddenly announced the withdrawal of all its B-1 bombers from the Royal Air Force base.

Burnham added: “We will not tolerate these threats on our lands. We will firmly confront Iran’s use of criminal networks, using our full powers to target them and their financing channels.”

Shortly after his statements, 29 countries, including the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, France and Germany, issued a joint statement in which they condemned “in the strongest terms Iran’s use of violent attacks.”

The statement stated that these attacks included "planning lethal operations, arson, acts of sabotage, cyberattacks, and other multi-media activities against us and our partners."

The text continued, "Any attempt by Iran to threaten, silence, intimidate, harass, harm, or coerce people on our soil, whether through agents or by any other means, is unacceptable."

The British Foreign Office announced the recall of the Iranian ambassador to London.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said: “We also announce the designation of two Iranian nationals for their role in facilitating or engaging in hostile activities on behalf of the Iranian regime, with the clear intent of threatening, planning or carrying out attacks abroad.”

His ministry stated that one of the two people is Ruhollah Bazghandi, the head of counterintelligence operations for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who is “now subject to immediate measures including asset freezes and travel bans.”

Much speculation has been raised about the incident since police were called to the base in southwest England on September 27, after it was reported that a group of men with white pickup trucks were engaging in “suspicious” activity.

Although counter-terrorism police conducted an extensive investigation, the seven suspects who were arrested over a period of days, including a British-Iranian national, were released on bail, and none of them were charged.

The British authorities classified the incident at the time as a “major” incident, which led to the evacuation of a village adjacent to the base, but the source and nature of the threat remained shrouded in mystery.

Investigators did not find any explosives in the pickup trucks, but they did find a quantity of gasoline, officials said.