Iran shifts focus to "harder targets, like military sites" with mounting sabotage attacks, U.K. spy chief warns

Key Points:

• Iran has shifted its focus towards attacking harder targets in the UK, including military bases, and has used criminal proxies to intimidate opposition groups, Iranian media, Israeli sites, and British Jewish communities, resulting in over 50 Iran-linked arrests in the past year.
• A thwarted plot against the UK air base RAF Fairford, used by US bombers targeting Iran, is believed to be directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, though some attacks may involve proxies or individuals unknowingly working on behalf of Iran.
• MI5's head, Sir Ken McCallum, noted a quadrupling of state-threat cases over the past decade, with Russia identified as "aggressor number one," escalating hybrid warfare tactics against the UK and allies amid challenges in Ukraine.
• McCallum highlighted the growing security risks posed by artificial intelligence, including its potential use in generating tailored propaganda, radicalization content, and enhancing the development or danger of biological weapons.
• The UK faces a complex national security environment requiring increased resources and new responses to counter threats from hostile foreign states, terrorism, and emerging technologies like AI.