RAF Fairford is also used by the US Air Force. Its security matters to Estonia too, as NATO’s collective defence depends on Allied military infrastructure remaining operational and on troops and equipment being able to move rapidly across Europe in a crisis.
Security threats in Europe are not limited to Russia’s activities. According to the United Kingdom, the incident at Fairford demonstrates the continued willingness of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to operate through covert networks beyond Iran’s borders. This means that Iran’s hostile activities must also be treated as a European security issue, not merely a problem for the Middle East.”