Israel claims to have warned London of planned Iranian attack before facing sanctions

Israel had warned the British authorities that Iran was planning an attack against a British base, declared its leader Benjamin Netanyahu, taking offense that London had nevertheless taken sanctions targeting Israeli colonies. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday (September 20) that there were “strong indications” of Tehran's involvement in the incident that occurred on Sunday near the Fairford air base in the southwest of England, used by the American army in its war against Tehran.

Five men, British nationals aged between 23 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of "offenses under the Explosives Act" as well as "preparing a terrorist act", before being released on bail on Monday. Iran had “categorically” denied on Monday any link with this affair.

British sanctions at the heart of tensions

Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking on Wednesday evening on the American channel Fox News, said he transmitted a possible Iranian plot to London on September 8, just before the British government announced measures to ban the importation of products from the colonies in the West Bank. “You want to know how absurd the situation is there, and how far the anti-Israeli propaganda goes?” the Prime Minister told the channel’s presenter Sean Hannity. “We passed intelligence to the British indicating that an attack was going to take place, an attack orchestrated by Iran. And almost the next day, they imposed sanctions on us,” added Mr. Netanyahu, sworn enemy of the Islamic Republic.