Following the British prime minister’s baseless allegations against Iran, Hugo Shorter, the UK ambassador to Tehran, was summoned by Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, who conveyed the Islamic Republic’s strong protest over the British government’s continued destructive approach toward Iran.
During the meeting, Takht Ravanchi recalled the UK government’s international responsibility for multiple wrongful acts against the Iranian people, particularly its provision of military bases and facilities under British jurisdiction for the planning and execution of the US-Israeli military aggression against Iran.
“The recent propaganda campaign by the British government in making a baseless allegation under the pretext of an attempted act of sabotage at Fairford Base can in no way overshadow Britain’s complicity in the military aggression against the Iranian people,” Takht Ravanchi said.
He stressed that the British government must be held accountable for its participation in the crime of aggression and the war crimes committed by the US and the Zionist regime.
Takht Ravanchi rejected as “baseless and disgraceful” the claims by British officials linking an alleged sabotage plot at the Fairford military base to Iran, stressing the need for the British government to provide an official explanation and correct its inappropriate approach toward the Islamic Republic.
The British ambassador said he would convey Iran’s protest to London.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had earlier rejected the allegation that Tehran was involved in the incident at RAF Fairford, criticizing the British government for releasing individuals allegedly working for foreign states while accusing Iran.
In a post on X, Araqchi responded to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s claim that there were “strong indications” of Iranian involvement in the incident, saying that the British government’s release of people it had described as suspected terrorists working for foreign states “really says it all.”
“You're barking up the wrong tree,” the Iranian foreign minister said.
Burnham had said the UK government believed Iran had played a role in the incident at RAF Fairford, without providing details to substantiate the allegation.
Five men, all UK nationals aged between 23 and 25, were arrested in connection with the incident after police were alerted to three suspicious vehicles in Whelford, a village directly east of the base. They were later released on bail under what Burnham described as the “strictest possible bail conditions.”
RAF Fairford has been used as a forward operating location by the US Air Force for decades.