The Director-General of the UK’s domestic security service, MI5, reported a “stunning” rise in assassination attempts by the Iranian and Russian regimes on British soil.
On Tuesday, October 8, Director General Ken McCallum, in presenting his annual report, warned of the threats from Tehran and Moscow, as well as growing concerns about the activities of the Islamic State group (ISIS) and al-Qaeda.
According to this security official, “hostile” countries hire criminals to carry out their “dirty work.”
Ken McCallum stated at the London Counter-Terrorism Operations Center that since January 2022, MI5 and British police have responded to 20 plots backed by the Iranian regime, which posed potentially deadly threats to British citizens and residents.
This security official added that after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the regime’s morality police in September 2022, London witnessed consecutive plots by the Iranian regime.
Following Mahsa Amini’s death, widespread protests erupted among Iranians inside and outside Iran, sparking a massive wave of opposition to the Iranian regime.
In April, Reporters Without Borders described the increasing threats against Iranian journalists in the UK as “unprecedented” and called on the British government to take action to protect their lives.
On Monday, August 6, 2023, the British Prime Minister’s office stated that the Iranian regime poses “a serious threat” to the UK and its allies, and “a direct danger” to Iranian dissidents and opposition members residing in Britain.
In another part of his speech, McCallum emphasized that like Russia, Iran uses everyone from drug traffickers to petty criminals for its operations.
McCallum warned that if Israel retaliates against a missile strike from Iran, Iran could expand its targets to include Britain.
According to him, escalating conflicts in the Middle East increase the risk of Iran’s aggressive activities spreading to the UK.
McCallum also mentioned that Israel’s conflicts with Iran-backed militias, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen, could potentially trigger terrorist attacks in Britain.
Previously, the British Home Secretary had described Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the biggest threat to the UK’s security, stating that the IRGC had increased its threats on British soil and employed criminal gangs to suppress opposition.
