UK believes Iran involved in RAF Fairford incident, Burnham says

In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Rubio said “I think it ties us to the reality here, and that is we are dealing with elements in the world, and in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally”.

Burnham said that the government had been “talking to our counterparts in the United States all week to explain what is happening here, how things are being done”, and that he had “complete confidence in the way British security services are handling this”.

“Of course it remains an ongoing, complex and serious police investigation, and of course we are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America,” Burnham added.

The five men in question were arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning after police were alerted to “three suspicious vehicles” in Whelford, a village which lies directly east of the base.

They are all UK nationals aged between 23 and 25. Four of them live in Westminster and one in Camden, and searches of their homes are now complete.

The men were released on bail in what police described as an “investigative decision” that was “grounded in experience and strategy”.

Police said a quantity of petrol but no explosive devices were found during searches of the vans.

The RAF base has been used as a forward operating location by the US Air Force for decades.

In recent months, US bombers have taken off from the base for the Middle East, after the UK approved a US request to use it for what it called defensive strikes on Iran.

In July, Iran said “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces”.

However, the Iranian embassy in London has said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” any “unfounded and malicious speculations” linking Iran to the latest incident.