MI5 chief says Iran is targeting military bases in UK, airbase plot ‘not unique’

LONDON (AP) — Iran is trying to hit military sites in the UK and the suspected plot to attack a US-run military air base in September is “not unique,” the head of Britain’s MI5 spy agency said Tuesday. Ken McCallum, who leads the UK’s domestic security service, said Tehran is seeking to intensify its attacks in Britain beyond the traditional targets of Iranians opposed to the country’s Islamic authorities. That has included arson and sabotage attacks on Jewish sites that Britain says were carried out by Iranian proxies. McCallum said another “major shift this year has been Iranian ambitions to come at harder targets, like military sites.” The incident at RAF Fairford “is not unique. There have been other examples, not just in the UK but around the world,” McCallum said. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms McCallum delivered a speech outlining major threats to the UK as detectives investigate a suspected terror plot against the US-run base in western England, which has been used to bomb Iran during this year’s war. A B1 bomber prepares to take off as police officers man a checkpoint near RAF Fairford air base, in Fairford, England September 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Scores of residents were evacuated from their homes near the base on September 27 as armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swarmed the rural area. Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant — gasoline — in three vans at the site, but no explosives. British authorities have linked Tehran to the incident, which led the US to pull its bombers from RAF Fairford. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday that the apparent plot was “almost certainly” directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Advertisement Seven men in their 20s have been arrested and released on bail under investigation. Iran has denied involvement, although it has previously said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target. MI5 says AI could bring bioweapon risk In a stark speech, McCallum argued that the UK faces a “new era of national security” and is at a turning point equivalent to the 9/11 attacks a quarter century ago. He said his agency’s work countering state threats – chiefly from Russia, Iran and China – has quadrupled in the past decade, and claimed that both Russia and Iran are expanding their hybrid warfare campaigns against the UK. Meanwhile, technology is racing ahead, with artificial intelligence “supercharging” the cybersecurity battle between attackers and defenders, he said. McCallum said terror plotters have used artificial intelligence for reconnaissance and attacks, including AI-enabled drones. Even more concerning, he said, is “AI’s potential to change the stakes on existing or even new bioweapons.” Advertisement Two police officers patrol Parliament Square, backdropped by the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, in London, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) He said terror groups “would dearly love” to have chemical, biological or radiological weapons, but these are hard to obtain. “One risk is that AI could enable dangerous knowledge to get into the hands of people we would all rather didn’t have that knowledge,” he said. “A second and different risk… is the possibility that AI could generate novel pathogens not previously seen.” McCallum said MI5 has set up a new AI Threat Assessment Center to try to keep ahead of the risks. “Human history has given us no experience of facing an actor which is smarter than we are. It is capable of outthinking us. This is genuinely novel, and deserves the serious attention it is getting, including in MI5,” he said. Help us report truthfully on social media As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos. This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world. If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism , please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting. — Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist Support our work Support our work Already a member? 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Sign in to stop seeing this Most Popular 1 Teen killed, 24 injured by Hezbollah munition found on hike near Lebanon border 2 How cancer cells survive chemo: Israeli researchers find ‘guardian proteins’ protect tumors 3 Inside story One year into ceasefire, vexed Gazans say they’re still living like war never ended 4 Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight denied landing in Israel, forced to turn around, due to Indonesian pilot 5 Netanyahu demands criminal probe of soldiers who testified in ‘NAZA’ film on Gaza killings 6 Security footage shows deadly Houthi missile attack on Riyadh airport over weekend 7 Student killed in blast near Lebanon border ID’d as 9th grader Elazar Yair Wilensky 8 Bennett suggests Netanyahu could sit in future government, backtracks, says he wasn’t serious read more: Israel & the Region Iran MI5 United Kingdom UK terror plot Ken McCallum AI artificial intelligence biological warfare 2026 US-Israel war with Iran If you’d like to comment, join The Times of Israel Community. 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