CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

When Gloucestershire Appeared on Iran’s Map

Image Source: Nilfanion – Ordnance Survey OpenData – CC BY-SA 3.0

There was something oddly disorientating about hearing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps mention RAF Fairford last week.

Fairford is hardly a place that intrudes on the world’s imagination. I spend Christmas not far from there. That is my only connection. Most people know it, if they know it at all, for the Royal International Air Tattoo, or as a sleepy corner of Gloucestershire surrounded by fields, stone villages and long, quiet roads.

Yet last week the IRGC, through Iran’s official news agency, declared that any military base used to launch attacks on Iran would be considered a “legitimate target”. It specifically named Fairford, claiming American B-1 bombers had flown missions against Iran from there.

The UK government insists it is simply maintaining the long-standing arrangement that allows US forces to operate from certain UK bases, while also maintaining that the UK is not itself participating in offensive operations against Iran. It is an increasingly fine distinction, particularly as Donald Trump continues to criticise European allies, including the UK, for not doing enough to support the United States.

Following the Iranian warning, ministers said the UK’s armed forces stood ready to defend the country and any military installations under threat. Whether Fairford is genuinely at risk is almost beside the point.

At around the same time, reports emerged that individuals linked to Iranian intelligence had attempted to enter the UK on small boats, with claims focusing on the IRGC’s Unit 700, the logistics branch that supports the Quds Force’s covert overseas operations. Some questioned why intelligence operatives would choose such a route rather than entering through more conventional means. Yet that objection is not conclusive. For much of the past decade, Iranians have consistently ranked among the largest national groups claiming asylum in the UK, meaning their presence among Channel crossings is not,........

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