What we know about RAF Fairford incident and counter-terror probe

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the incident was “deeply concerning” and the government would “always take every step necessary” to protect people.

The prime minister urged people “not to speculate while the authorities establish the full facts”.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Monday, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting thanked members of the public for their vigilance and quick action to alert emergency services to the plot.

He added that the farmer who told the BBC about her 999 call “did the right thing” in reporting the men but said she only had a “partial picture”, without expanding further.

The defence secretary said “this is not the time for me to speculate” over whether there was any Iranian involvement in the plot.

On Iranian threats to the UK more generally, Streeting added: “We know that Iran and their proxies wish to do us harm.”

“In the dangerous and turbulent world we find ourselves in, investment in defence is a price worth paying,” he added.

The Iranian embassy in London said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” what it called “unfounded and malicious speculations” linking Iran to the incident, adding that these would “serve no purpose other than to fuel Iranophobia propaganda in the UK”.

In a statement, the embassy said Iran “reserves the right to take appropriate legal measures, as necessary, to safeguard the rights and interests of the country and its people in response to misleading and damaging media narratives”.