Iran Suspected in RAF Fairford Bomb Plot, UK Counter-Terrorism Investigates Speculation mounts over Iran's role in the RAF Fairford bomb plot as UK counter-terrorism police investigate possible links to the regime and the Quds Force. Speculation is mounting over whether Iran was behind the bomb plot targeting RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on Sunday, as British counter-terrorism police investigate a possible link to the regime. If an Iranian connection is established, attention is likely to turn to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and, in particular, its elite foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, which is responsible for conducting covert operations overseas. The Quds Force has increasingly come under scrutiny over the regime's alleged use of criminal networks and proxies to carry out operations on foreign soil. Background on the IRGC and Quds ForceThe IRGC was established after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Islamic Republic and its revolutionary system. Over the years, it has developed into one of the regime's most powerful military and security institutions, with the Quds Force responsible for operations beyond Iran's borders. The Quds Force is headed by 'shadow commander' Esmail Qaani, who took command in January 2020 after the US killed his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in Baghdad.Qaani oversees an organisation responsible for building, funding, arming and coordinating Iran's network of allied armed groups across the Middle East, but the force's activities have also extended far beyond the region. In recent years, European security services have uncovered Iranian plots involving assassinations, kidnappings and attacks against dissidents, Jewish targets and Iranian opposition figures.Pattern of Iranian Plots in EuropeSince 1979, researchers tracking Iranian external operations have identified 218 plots worldwide, with around half taking place in Europe. The pace of these plots has increased over the last few years, with MI5 Director General Ken McCallum telling the public in October 2025 that his agency had tracked more than twenty potentially lethal Iran-linked plots in a single year.One of the most worrying features of those operations has been the use of ordinary criminals and gang members as proxies. One of the most notorious examples is Ramin Yektaparast, a German-Iranian gang leader and former Hells Angels figure who was recruited by the Quds force for a series of plots targeting Jewish sites in Germany.Yektaparast was suspected of helping organise attacks on synagogues in Essen and Bochum in November 2022, where shots were reportedly fired, and a Molotov cocktail was thrown. Western intelligence sources later questioned Yektaparast about his alleged relationship with the regime. During his interrogation, he is said to have provided information about his Iranian handlers and their intended target - intelligence that helped disrupt further terror plots in Europe.Yektaparast had fled to Iran before he was due to stand trial in Germany over the murder and dismemberment of a fellow biker in 2014. He was later assassinated by Israel's Mossad in Tehran. But before his death, intelligence sources said he had been recruited by the Quds Force because of his reputation as a violent gang leader with an extensive network of contacts across Europe.According to sources familiar with the case, the Iranians valued his willingness to carry out whatever attack they demanded of him. He was subsequently passed to Quds Force Unit 840, a secretive branch described by intelligence sources as the regime's 'terror export' unit.Unit 840 and Criminal Proxy NetworksIranian defectors and Western intelligence sources have described Unit 840 as operating a network of criminal proxies across Europe. According to those sources, a so-called 'German Network' was built around several assassination cells targeting Iranian dissidents and Jewish community figures.One alleged operation targeted dissident musician Shahin Najafi during a concert in Hanover in September 2023. The plot was reportedly timed to coincide with the anniversary of Iran's 'Woman, Life, Freedom' protests but was disrupted before the attack could take place.German authorities have also arrested individuals accused of being recruited through Iranian-linked criminal networks, including a Danish national accused of surveilling the German-Israeli Society and the home of a senior figure in Germany's Jewish community. Swedish authorities separately exposed alleged Iranian efforts to use criminal gangs to threaten Jewish, Israeli and opposition targets, while Dutch authorities have attributed the killings of Iranian dissidents to Tehran.Implications for UK SecurityThe investigation into the RAF Fairford bomb plot comes amid heightened tensions over Iran's alleged covert activities in Europe. If a link to the Quds Force is confirmed, it would mark a significant escalation in Iranian operations on UK soil. British counter-terrorism police are continuing to investigate the possibility of Iranian involvement, and the outcome could have far-reaching implications for UK-Iran relations and domestic security measures.