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MI5 warns that Iran-linked threats are moving toward British military targets

MI5 chief Ken McCallum warned that Iran-linked activity in Britain was increasingly directed at military sites and personnel. His annual assessment follows the Fairford investigation and includes about 50 arrests linked to Iranian threats over the past year. The warning describes the intelligence agency’s assessment; responsibility for individual incidents remains subject to investigation.

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A suited intelligence chief stands on a London pavement beside a pale stone institutional facade with tall windows.

McCallum sets out the current threat

Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, Britain’s domestic security service, delivered his annual threat assessment on October 13. The address covered threats linked to Iran and other states alongside terrorism. It came as British authorities were investigating suspected hostile activity near military installations. The agency’s public update sets out its assessment of the threats Britain faces.[1], [2]

McCallum said Iran-linked activity was increasingly directed at military sites and personnel. Dissidents and other people outside Iran had previously been prominent targets. He reported about 50 arrests connected with Iranian threats over the past year. Both the trend he described and the arrest figure are MI5’s account. An arrest does not establish guilt or demonstrate Iranian responsibility in each case. The shift he outlined concerns the targets of suspected activity in Britain, with military locations receiving greater attention in the agency’s assessment.[1]

Fairford investigation remains open

The speech followed the September 27 incident involving three suspicious vans near Royal Air Force Fairford, a British military air base. Prime Minister Andy Burnham told parliament on Monday that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the country’s powerful military organisation, was almost certainly responsible. Iran rejected the accusation. Seven people arrested in the Fairford investigation were released on bail without charges. Two Latvian citizens were separately arrested on suspicion of trespass at Royal Air Force Molesworth, another British base, and were also released on bail. No convictions have been announced in those investigations.[1]

MI5 describes methods and capabilities

McCallum described the sophistication of Iran’s operations in Britain as limited. He said MI5 had not seen evidence of a capability to conduct complex explosive or drone attacks there, despite Iran’s experience closer to home. That assessment accompanied the warning about changing targets. Britain also announced sanctions against two Iranians. Authorities describe Ruhollah Bazghandi as involved in the Revolutionary Guard’s counterespionage structure and Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki as a facilitator for the Zindashti network, which British authorities link to hostile activity. Those descriptions are the British authorities’ allegations.[1]

References

  1. News sourceAl JazeeraMI5 says Iran-linked threats are shifting toward military targets↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceBBC NewsMI5 chief warns of growing state threats to Britain↩
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