Australia has joined the US and other nations in condemning what the UK has called an Iran-directed plot targeting a Royal Air Force base.
The US recently pulled all long-range bombers out of RAF Fairford, about 160km east of London, after an alleged terror plot was foiled by police.
Police at RAF Fairford base in south-west England. AP
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the alleged plot was orchestrated by Iran, a claim the government in Tehran and its UK embassy have fiercely denied.
Now, US State Department has released a joint statement with the governments of the UK, Australia, and multiple other Western countries condemning Iran over the alleged planned attack.
“We recognise the United Kingdom’s attribution of Iran’s involvement in the incident at RAF Fairford on 27 September,” the joint statement read.
“The UK has also concluded this event demonstrates the IRGC’s continued willingness to project hostile activity beyond its borders through covert networks and proxy actors.
The statement said the alleged plot followed on the heels of a “recent campaign of attacks across Europe targeting Jewish communities, Iranian journalists, and US interests, claimed by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI)“.
HAYI is an Islamist group that emerged earlier this year in the UK and Europe and is considered by European authorities to be a proxy for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“Any attempt by Iran to threaten, silence, intimidate, harass, harm, or coerce people on our territories through proxies or any other means is unacceptable,” the joint statement said.
“Anyone who conducts hostile activities on behalf of Iran, or any other state, should know that we will take action to identify, investigate, disrupt, and prosecute these acts.
“Iran should be in no doubt that we are united and remain committed to safeguarding our sovereignty and strengthening our international coordination, bolstering our national resilience, protecting our communities, and ensuring that those responsible are held to account.”
RAF Fairford served as a base for US bombers involved in recent strikes on Iran.
US bombers used RAF Fairford as a base. Getty
It was recently allegedly targeted as part of a suspected “terror plot”, which saw five men arrested and then released on bail in late September.
According to police, the men were arrested after three vans were stopped, allegedly on their way to the base, after midnight last Sunday (UK time).
The men were identified only as UK nationals aged between 23 and 25. They were released without charge, though subject to strict bail conditions as the investigation continues.
On Thursday last week, a British-Iranian man, 27, was arrested on suspicion of “preparation of terrorist acts” in connection with the alleged plot.
Australia expelled Iran’s diplomats last August after ASIO alleged Iran had orchestrated antisemitic attacks in Melbourne and Sydney.