MI5 director warns of Iranian attempts to target military facilities in Britain
Ken McCallum said Tehran is expanding the scope of its attacks inside the UK to include more fortified facilities, and described the suspected Fairford plot in September as "not a unique case."
The Director General of Britain’s domestic intelligence service, MI5, Ken McCallum, said on Tuesday that Iran is attempting to target military sites inside the United Kingdom, noting that the suspected plot to attack a US-run air base in September "is not a unique case."
McCallum’s remarks came during his annual speech on the threats facing the country, where he said Tehran is seeking to intensify its attacks inside Britain to go beyond the traditional targets of Iranians opposed to the regime.
He added that this campaign has included deliberate arson and acts of sabotage targeting Jewish sites, and that Britain says actors operating on Iran’s behalf carried them out.
McCallum pointed out that "another major shift this year has been Iran’s ambitions to target more hardened sites, such as military facilities," stressing that this represents a change in the pattern of threats.
He also revealed that the incident at RAF Fairford "is not a unique case," and that other similar incidents have occurred, not only in the United Kingdom but around the world.
Separately, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday that the security incident at Fairford, which is used by the United States, "was almost certainly directed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," adding in the House of Commons: "Our assessment is that it is highly likely that it was coordinated in Iran, and with near certainty directed by the IRGC. We will not tolerate these threats on our soil."
The British government said it summoned the Iranian ambassador to express its displeasure at "Iran’s continued attempts to undermine the security of the United Kingdom and international partners through its criminal networks, proxy groups and state-backed malign activity."
