British intelligence agency MI5 warned on Wednesday that Iran poses one of the biggest security challenges for the United Kingdom (UK), alleging that Iranian agents have attempted to “kidnap or kill” British citizens at least ten times in 2022.
“Iran projects threat to the UK directly, through its aggressive intelligence services,” MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum said during the agency’s annual threat update.
“At its sharpest this includes ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime,” he noted, adding that Iran made “at least ten such potential threats since January alone.”
He said the UK “will not tolerate intimidation or threats to life” of any British citizen or individuals living in the country. “We work at pace with domestic and international partners to disrupt this completely unacceptable activity,” he stressed.
Director General of MI5 Ken McCallum says "Iran projects threat to the UK directly, through its aggressive intelligence services".
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McCallum also noted that Iran’s military support to Russia is a major threat to Europe, as it would help Russia to prolong the war in Ukraine and “inflict misery” on Ukrainians. He described Tehran as a “profoundly destabilising actor” in the Middle East, arguing that it is using proxies to sow conflict in the region.
The MI5 chief also addressed the ongoing anti-regime protests in Iran, noting that protesters are “asking fundamental questions of the totalitarian regime.” “This could signal profound change, but the trajectory is uncertain. For now, we see the regime resorting to violence to silence critics.” he asserted.
McCallum’s comments follow threats made by Iran against British journalists for covering the ongoing protests. Last week, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly summoned Iran’s ambassador to “make clear that we do not tolerate threats to life and intimidation of any kind towards journalists, or any individual, living in the UK.”
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Tehran has accused London of supporting British news site Iran International, helping it spread disinformation about demonstrations in Iran. In fact, Iranian security forces arrested an “agent” of the news agency last week for supporting the protests and spreading “terrorism.”
In July, Iranian security forces arrested a British diplomat on espionage charges, saying he was caught collecting soil samples near a missile launching site. Reuters journalist Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliff was arrested by the IRGC in 2016 and convicted for spying and plotting to overthrow the government the following year. Similarly, Anousheh Ashouri and Morad Tahbaz were respectively detained in 2017 and 2018 for spying on behalf of Israel and the United States. Iran released them in March in order to receive concessions from the West regarding the removal of sanctions.
Iran has attempted to kidnap or assassinate critics of the regime residing abroad and citizens of Tehran’s rivals as well. In August, Iranian agents tried to kill prominent Islamic Republic critic Masih Alinejad at her home in New York. Iranian agents have also repeatedly tried to assassinate Israeli citizens living overseas. On Tuesday, Georgia said it thwarted an Iranian attempt to kill an Israeli businessman living in Tbilisi.
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Likewise, Israeli and Cypriot agents foiled an assassination attempt by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on an Israeli billionaire in Nicosia last year. Meanwhile, in June, Israeli and Turkish security forces thwarted multiple attempts by Iranian agents to kidnap or kill Israeli citizens vacationing in Turkey and issued numerous travel warnings for citizens visiting Turkey.
Apart from the challenge posed by Iran, McCallum named China and Russia as major threats to the UK. He said the Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens the stability of Europe, noting that apart from the overt military aggression, Moscow has also been waging a covert war against Ukraine, including assassination attempts, cyber-attacks, and disinformation campaigns.
Regarding China, McCallum said “the activities of the Chinese Communist Party pose the most game-changing strategic challenge to the UK.”
“The Chinese authorities use all the means at their disposal to monitor—and where they deem necessary intimidate—the Chinese diaspora. This takes place all over the world, from coercing and forcibly repatriating Chinese nationals to harassment and assault,” he said.
Ken McCallum also pointed to the danger of terrorism that remains a substantial threat to the UK. We lucky to have dedicated and courageous individuals who keep us safe.
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McCallum also noted that terrorism is another significant challenge, including “Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorism.” He acknowledged that Islamist terrorism “remains the larger problem” but simultaneously cautioned that “the Extreme Right-Wing landscape has continued to evolve away from structured, real-world groups such as National Action, to a diffuse online threat.”
Nevertheless, he expressed confidence the MI5 is ready to tackle the “increasingly complex range of threats” faced by the UK.