David Patrikarakos writes an opinion piece warning that Iran may be behind recent bomb plots targeting RAF Fairford, a strategic airbase used by the U.S. for bombing missions against Iran. He notes that since February 2023, when the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran escalated, Britain has allowed American forces to use RAF Fairford, angering Tehran. Patrikarakos argues that Iran’s regime, unable to strike Western targets conventionally due to distance, resorts to unconventional tactics like assassination and sabotage; he cites over 20 disrupted plots by Iranian-backed groups in the UK since 2022, targeting dissidents, journalists, and Jewish institutions.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-28,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In recent days, security measures at RAF Fairford, a U.S. Air Force base in Gloucestershire, England, significantly increased with armed police and roadblocks preventing access to the base. On Sunday morning, British police declared a major incident after suspicious vehicles were reported near the airbase; five UK nationals in their 20s were arrested and later released on bail for terror offenses under suspicion of involvement with explosives.
Local residents noted heavy vehicles and concrete barriers blocking entrances to the base weeks before the incident. Around 30 emergency vehicles, including police cars, ambulances, and fire engines, were stationed near the base during heightened security measures. The arrests occurred amid increased tensions between the U.S., Iran, and the UK; Iranian officials have denied involvement.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested a "foreign actor" was involved, linking it to threats from adversaries like Iran, while British Prime Minister Andy Burnham indicated there are strong indications that Iran played a role in the incident, despite ongoing investigations. The U.K. and U.S. have been closely cooperating on this matter, with Burnham stating they were “on top of it.”
Written for “RAF Fairford Terror Plot Incident” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 192 other(s) covering the same event.
My first thought on hearing that counter-terrorism police had declared a ‘major incident’ near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and arrested several men for explosives offenses was a weary, ‘Not another one’.
When would-be atrocity becomes banal you know your country has a serious problem.
asserted
country → hear → problem
At the time of writing, counterterrorism police are investigating whether the bomb plot is linked to Iran.
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plot → investigate → Iran
Counter-terrorism police are now investigating whether the alleged bomb plot is linked to Iran.
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plot → investigate → Iran
As someone who has seen close up what Tehran’s monstrous regime is capable of, I believe they are right to do so.
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they → see → what
It’s a serious charge to make in print.
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It → ’ → print
Let’s start with the target.
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’s → let → target
RAF Fairford is one of the few European airfields able to handle America’s B-1 and B-52 heavy bombers.
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Fairford → handle → bombers
After the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28, Britain allowed American forces to use it to launch strikes against Iranian missile sites.
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forces → begin → sites
In July, their Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared Britain a ‘definite and legitimate target’ if it supported America’s war, specifically citing US bombers flying from British bases.
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it → declare → bases
Whether Tehran lies behind what happened at Fairford remains to be seen.
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what → lie → Fairford
But if it was, no one in Whitehall can claim they weren’t warned – and even if it wasn’t, the problem we face from the mullahs nevertheless remains graver than ever.
uncertain
we → claim → mullahs
From Tehran’s point of view, Britain is now helping wage a conventional war against it.
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Britain → help → it
British bases used to attack Iran are therefore fair game.
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bases → use → Iran
But while the mullahs can strike US bases in the Middle East, conventional missile strikes against us aren’t practical.
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strikes → strike → us
We’re just too far away.
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We → ’re → ?
So, they must get creative to continue to effectively prosecute their decades-long war against the leading Western powers.
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they → get → powers
And, to give them their due, when it comes to murder and sabotage, creative they certainly are.
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they → give → murder
Fairford is one of the few European airfields able to handle America’s B-1 and B-52 heavy bombers
Iran has spent years developing other ways of reaching enemies it cannot easily hit with missiles, using, among other things, bombs and assassins to continue fighting.
Since 2022, MI5 and counter-terrorism police have disrupted more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots in Britain, including plans to kill or kidnap enemies of the regime.
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MI5 → handle → regime
Tehran has targeted dissidents, journalists and Jewish communities and institutions.
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Tehran → target → dissidents
Earlier this year I reported from Golders Green in north London after three masked men torched four ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer service Hatzola, causing around £1 million of damage.
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men → report → damage
An Iran-linked group claimed responsibility (although no direct link to Tehran has been established).
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link → link → Tehran
In March 2024, Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for the London-based opposition channel Iran International, was stabbed outside his home in Wimbledon by a hit team who then drove straight to Heathrow and fled Britain within hours.
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who → base → hours
The attackers were Romanian criminals hired as proxies; two were later extradited to Britain and jailed.
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two → hire → Britain
The threats against the station became so grave that it was forced for a time to shut its London studios and broadcast from Washington.
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it → become → Washington
Between 2022 and 2023, Britain was in the grip of a largely foiled assassination and kidnapping campaign of which most people remain unaware.
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people → foil → which
MI5 and the Metropolitan Police revealed that they had disrupted at least 15 Iranian plots to kidnap or kill British nationals or UK residents whom Tehran regarded as enemies of the regime.
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Tehran → reveal → regime
There have now been so many Iranian operations against us that we can trace the evolution of their methods almost in real time.
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we → trace → time
Britain has become a testing ground on which Iran has honed the art of killing, spying and intimidating while keeping its hands supposedly clean.
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Iran → become → hands
For the Iranians, dispatching agents from Tehran has become passé.
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dispatching → dispatch → Tehran
Instead, the IRGC and Iranian intelligence increasingly hire local criminals and other assorted scumbags to do their dirty work.
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IRGC → hire → work
Counter-terrorism police are now investigating whether the alleged bomb plot is linked to Iran
It makes sense.
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It → investigate → sense
Using them makes an attack harder to trace and gives Tehran deniability.
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attack → use → deniability
MI5 says Iranian state actors make ‘extensive use of criminals as proxies’, ranging from international drug traffickers to low-level thugs.
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actors → say → thugs
And our response to all this can be summed up in one depressing image: Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband shaking hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the United Nations in New York last week.
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response → sum → York
Labour punishes the Israelis for defending their country and extends its hand to the Iranians for attacking ours.
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Labour → punish → ours
Once again, the terror that our political class refuses to adequately confront has been foiled by the security services it refuses to adequately fund.
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it → refuse → services
But don’t worry – I’m told that Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Defence Secretary Wes Streeting are being ‘regularly briefed’ on the situation.
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Burnham → worry → situation
Fear is no doubt coursing through IRGC senior command as I write.
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I → course → command
So, if we sigh with relief that the plot appears to have been foiled, our response must amount to more than a grateful exhalation – because, believe me, more Iranian attacks are coming.
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attacks → sigh → me
The Aporia
