London, Oct 13 (V7N)- British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of directing an alleged plot to attack the UK’s Fairford air base, as Britain imposed sanctions on two Iranian nationals over the incident.
Burnham made the allegations in Parliament on Monday (October 12), according to Al Jazeera.
He said the alleged plot was almost certainly carried out at the direction of the IRGC and warned that such threats would not be tolerated on British soil.
The prime minister said the UK would use all available powers to respond to Iran’s activities and their sources of funding. He also indicated that further sanctions could be introduced to restrict Iran and the IRGC’s ability to carry out hostile activities.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on social media that sanctions had been imposed on two Iranian nationals for engaging in or assisting hostile activities on behalf of the Iranian government. Their identities have not been disclosed.
Meanwhile, 29 countries, including the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several European nations, blamed Iran for the alleged attempt to infiltrate the air base in a joint statement.
The statement said that threatening, intimidating, harassing, harming or coercing people on another country’s territory was unacceptable.
Iran has rejected the allegations. On Monday, Iranian Ambassador to the UK Ali Mousavi met with British Minister of State for the Middle East Stephen Doughty and denied Tehran’s involvement in the incident.
According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, Mousavi urged British authorities to avoid making statements without evidence and said Tehran was prepared to cooperate with the investigation.
Earlier, the Iranian Embassy in London had also dismissed the allegations as baseless and malicious.
The allegations and diplomatic exchanges have heightened tensions between London and Tehran, while the investigation into the alleged plot remains a key issue.
END/SMA/AJ
