'We Are Going to See': Trump on Iran's Alleged Link in UK’s RAF Fairford Incident

Washington DC: US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said Washington would consider further action against Iran following allegations by the United Kingdom and its allies linking Tehran to an incident at the RAF Fairford airbase in Gloucestershire. Speaking to reporters before travelling to Ohio for a midterm election campaign rally, Trump was asked whether there would be any action against Iran after Western countries alleged its involvement in the incident.

“We are going to see. There's plenty of action against it. When you say actions against Iran, they have no Navy, no Air Force. Their inflation now is 301 per cent,” Trump said. Trump's remarks came after the UK government and several allied countries issued a joint statement on Monday (local time), condemning what they called Iran's use of hostile activities against them and their partners.

The joint statement, published on the official website of the UK government, recognised Britain's attribution of Iran's involvement in the incident at RAF Fairford on September 27. “We recognise the United Kingdom’s attribution of Iran’s involvement in the incident at RAF Fairford on 27 September,” the statement read.

It added that the UK had concluded that the incident demonstrated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) “continued willingness to project hostile activity beyond its borders through covert networks and proxy actors”. The foreign ministers of the signatory countries also condemned what they called Iran's use of “violent attacks, including the acts of lethal plotting, arson, sabotage, cyber-attacks, and other hybrid activities against us and our partners”.

They warned that 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 statement further said the countries remained committed to identifying, investigating, disrupting and prosecuting those responsible for hostile activities carried out on behalf of Iran or other states.

Iran, however, has rejected the allegations, with its Foreign Ministry calling the UK's claims “baseless”. According to Iran's state news agency IRNA, the ministry said in a statement on Monday evening that the British government could not evade political and legal responsibility for its claims and their possible consequences by relying on "vague wording without providing solid evidence".

The ministry termed the accusation an “ugly conspiracy” aimed at advancing an "anti-Iran campaign" and evading accountability for Britain's role in "US-Israeli military aggression" against the Iranian people. It also criticised the use of phrases such as “highly likely” and “almost certainly” to suggest Iran's involvement, calling them an attempt to avoid accountability for "baseless" accusations.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry categorically rejected the allegations and held the UK government and those it called the architects and perpetrators of a “clumsy false-flag operation” responsible for any consequences arising from "fabrication". 

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