U.K. Base Would Be Ambitious Target for ‘Gig Economy’ Warfare

When the United States ignited a war against Iran in February, counterterrorism analysts braced for reprisal attacks outside the Middle East. What materialized was a string of about 20 small-scale arson and bombing attacks against Jewish and American targets in Europe and North America. Then, last Sunday, outside a British air base that Iran had branded a “legitimate target,” the police arrested and later released five men in a murky plot that counterterrorism experts said echoed the previous pattern. Prime Minister Andy Burnham of Britain said there were “strong indications that Iran played a part,” and a British-Iranian national was also arrested. In addition, the British counterterrorism police charged two Iranian men on Friday in a suspected terrorist plot targeting Jews in the Manchester area. The men assembled components for homemade explosives and conducted reconnaissance on potential targets, the authorities said. While the previous attacks often occurred at night, with no loss of life and often superficial damage, an assault on an air base would represent a serious escalation, experts said. “That would be a jump in ambition and an evolution of the proxy campaign,” said Adrian Shtuni, a counterterroism expert and security consultant based in Washington. Unlike the soft, symbolic targets in the previous attacks, he said, the British military base was used for U.S. strikes on Iran. This style of terrorist attack is sometimes referred to as the “gig economy hybrid model of warfare.” Iran adopted it after Russia used it in Europe, experts said. It involves “disposable agents” or “cutouts.” Identified through Telegram chat groups or other online venues, they do not know who is hiring them. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .