MI5 Chief Ken McCallum Says Iran Targets Britain’s Military Sites After RAF Fairford Plot

MI5 warns on Iran

MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum said Iran is trying to target military sites in Britain and that the suspected plot to attack a U.S.-operated military air base in September was “not one of a kind.” McCallum warned that Tehran and Moscow are expanding their campaigns against the United Kingdom, and he said Iran is seeking to intensify attacks in Britain beyond traditional targets of Iranian dissidents from their Islamic authorities.

MI5 Iran military targets3 of 5 outlets reported it · not in CNN and 1 more▾

McCallum said Britain suspects Tehran of involvement in a plot aimed at a Fairfield base belonging to the Royal Air Force, and he said the incident at RAF Fairford is “not unique.” McCallum said counterterror detectives are investigating a suspected terror plot against the U.S.-run base in western England, and he said police found a quantity of a burn accelerant in three trucks but no explosive devices were found.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the apparent plot was “nearly certain” to have been directed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while Iran denied involvement and said any base used to attack its territory is a legitimate target.

+1Burnham Iran coordination7 of 9 outlets reported it · not in CNN and 1 more▾

Reporting for this sectionAl-Jazeera NetAP News

RAF Fairford incident

British authorities managed the RAF Fairford incident by evacuating dozens of residents from homes near the base on September 27, while armed police and Army bomb disposal experts patrolled the rural area. Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant, gasoline, in three vans at the site, but no explosives, and McCallum said seven men in their 20s were arrested and released on bail pending investigation.

McCallum said more than 50 people were arrested last year over Iran-related plots, and he said Iran has so far used low-level criminal agents lacking the capability to carry out a large-scale, sophisticated attack. Iran summoned British Ambassador Hugo Shorter and warned it could “seriously reconsider” bilateral relations unless the U.K. provides evidence linking Tehran to the alleged plot, and Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Britain’s “irresponsible and destructive approach.”

Iran summons ambassador1 of 3 outlets reported it · not in CNN and 1 more▾

Reporting for this sectionAl-Jazeera NetAP News

AI and wider threats

McCallum said MI5’s work confronting state threats headed by Russia, Iran, and China has quadrupled over the past decade, and he said both Russia and Iran are intensifying hybrid warfare campaigns against the United Kingdom and other European countries. McCallum said terrorist planners have used artificial intelligence to scout attacks, including AI-powered drones, and he warned that “AI’s potential to change the stakes on existing or even new bioweapons” is more alarming.

McCallum said terrorist groups “strongly wish” to possess chemical, biological, or radiological weapons, but obtaining them remains difficult, and he said MI5 established a new center to assess AI threat risks to preempt threats. The Associated Press reported that McCallum said the U.K. faces a “new era of national security,” and he said the threats range from “arson, sabotage, cyberattacks, coercion, violence” to “what online algorithms are feeding your teenagers in their bedrooms.”

Reporting for this sectionAl-Jazeera NetAP News