Iran targets military facilities, Russia escalates hybrid warfare MI5: British security threats have quadrupled in 10 years

Ken McCallum, the head of Britain's domestic intelligence and security agency MI5, warned on the 13th that Iran is stepping up its attempts to attack targets that are more difficult for Britain to attack, such as military strongholds; Russia has also escalated its hybrid warfare against its Ukrainian allies. He also pointed out that the national security threats faced by the UK have increased fourfold in the past 10 years.

Reuters reported on the 13th that McCallum delivered his annual security threat assessment speech on the 13th, when British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on the 12th that Iran was "highly likely" to be involved in the suspected attack plot against RAF Fairford in the UK.

The base has provided U.S. bombers to carry out air strikes against Iran. The suspected attack plot triggered a security alert and prompted U.S. President Trump to withdraw military aircraft deployed there. Iran rejects accusations of its involvement in the Fairford incident or any other suggestion that Tehran is carrying out malign activities in the UK.

McCallum said that he could not comment on the Fairford incident because the investigation was still ongoing, but he pointed out that Iran's actions have changed significantly this year, attempting to attack more difficult targets such as military installations. "The Fairford incident... is not a single incident. There have been other examples before, not just in the UK, but around the world." He said that operations related to Iran in the past year have resulted in the arrest of more than 50 people.

Asked whether Iran has the capability, perhaps using drones equipped with explosive devices, to launch complex attacks, McCallum said that the criminal elements and proxies Iran uses in the UK have limited capabilities, but the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has considerable experience in using traditional and hybrid warfare techniques with more sophisticated methods to launch attacks in countries neighboring Iran.

As for Russia, McCallum pointed out that Russia is still the "number one aggressor" and cited the attempted drone attack at Leipzig Airport in Germany and the cyber attack on Poland's energy infrastructure as examples, echoing the views of other European intelligence agencies that Russia uses hybrid warfare methods that do not meet the threshold of traditional warfare. "It is no accident that at a time when the Russian aggressors are making limited military advances in Ukraine and paying horrific costs, they are seeking to unsettle other European countries," he said.

Russia refuted German accusations of involvement in the incident at Leipzig Airport, calling the accusations "completely fabricated."