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MI5 chief: Iran now targeting UK military bases, far-right radicalisation rising, AI threat growing

Sir Ken McCallum's annual threat update says state threats have quadrupled in a decade and Iran has shifted to "harder targets" like military sites.

newest coverage 1h agosummary written 10h ago100 pieces1.4k likes & upvotes85 comments NewswiresMastodonGoogle NewsRedditBlueskyXYouTube

Part of a larger narrative

RAF Fairford Bomb Plot

5 stories · since Sep 27 · newest 1h ago — A foiled bombing plot targeting a U.S. Air Force base in the UK has triggered diplomatic friction between the U.S. and Britain over suspect detention, with…

  1. MI5 chief: Iran now targeting UK military bases, far-right radicalisation rising, AI threat growingyou are here
  2. UK counter-terror police make seventh arrest in RAF Fairford probe
  3. US pulls all B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford over new Iran drone-attack threat
  4. US pulls all B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford after new Iran-linked terror threat
  5. All six RAF Fairford terror-plot suspects released on bail amid Iran claims

What to know

  • MI5 director Sir Ken McCallum says state-threat work is now at Cold War-era scale, with foreign adversary threats quadrupled over a decade.
  • Iran is accused of a "major shift" toward hitting harder targets like military bases, with the RAF Fairford incident called "not unique".
  • Far-right radicalisation moving from grievance to violent intent is described as the most marked trend in MI5's caseload, including a case involving a 13-year-old.
  • MI5 is launching an AI Threat Assessment Centre amid warnings that AI could help hostile states and extremists build bioweapons or weaponise drones.

The dispute Commenters split over whether the focus should be on holding political rhetoric accountable for radicalisation or on taking MI5's threat assessment at face value. · positions read across 14 posts and comments

some voices

Russia's hybrid war against the UK is real, long-running, and has been under-taken seriously for years.

  • “This "war" did not start last week. It's been going on for a decade+ and those denying it should be challenged.”

    ottoenglish.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
some voices

Right-wing radicalisation is being fuelled by victim narratives, and right-wing politicians stoking those narratives deserve more scrutiny.

  • “Giving people victim narratives is extremely dangerous. It makes them very easy to radicalise.”

    SnooOpinions8790 · Reddit ↗
some voices

Skeptical that the terrorism framing targets the right people, questioning whether protest movements get conflated with genuine threats.

  • “Is this because they consider that old people with cardboard signs protesting against genocide, are actually terrorists? No. The article says why. Spoiler: it isn't old people with cardboard signs.”

    Wd91 · Reddit ↗

“I am a little bit anxious that we don't play into our adversaries' hands by making these trolls look 10ft tall.”

Sir Ken McCallum, MI5 Director General · BBC News · Oct 12

Sir Ken McCallum Director General of MI5Iran / IRGC State actor accused of hybrid aggressionRussia / Kremlin State actor labeled "aggressor number one"Patriot Platform Far-right protest group

MI5 chief: Iran now targeting UK military bases, far-right radicalisation rising, AI threat growing
bbc.co.uk

How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesvideospostscomments

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4 PMyesterday8 AM4 PMnow · 4:33 AM ET
  1. 3

    US and allies acknowledge growing Iranian hybrid-threat pattern

    Following McCallum's speech and the ongoing RAF Fairford investigation, reporting noted that the US and allied governments are increasingly recognizing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' escalating 'hybrid activities' against Western military sites.

    1. 12 outlets MI5 chief says Iran is targeting military sites and suspected plot at RAF Fairford is 'not unique’

      first by Hindustan Times, 13h ago · also Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe, Orlando Sentinel, Mercury News, Baltimore Sun +5

    2. 1 outlet first by Washington Examiner, 11h ago · read ↗

    • 🇬🇧🇮🇷🇺🇸 MI5 chief says Iran is now going after military sites in Britain and the Fairford plot was "not unique" Ken McCallum laid it out at MI5 headquarters on Tuesday: Tehran spent years hunting dissidents and torching Jewish sites through proxies, and this year moved up to

      @MarioNawfalX10h ago8▲view on X ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch

    • I really don't understand why you're getting downvoted and the other guy is getting upvoted. It's not like they're trying to cover something up, that's just not what they're talking about in this specific article. It's like seeing a random story about the King and saying "funny how they don't mention Diana once". Why would they? They don't need to…

      The96kHzr/ukpolitics4h agoview on r/ukpolitics ↗
    • europesays@pubeurope.com

      MI5 chief says Iran targeting military sites, plot at RAF base ‘not unique’ Iran is trying to hit military sites in Britain and the suspected plot to attack a US-run military… # EuropeSays # Headlines # News # Europe # Europa # EU # Tehran # crime -and-justice # Iran # Terrorism # uk -europe

      europesays@pubeurope.comMastodon9h agoview on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  2. background

    MI5 says Iran has made a "major shift" to target military sites — McCallum said Iran was expanding a hybrid campaign in the UK, with 50 arrests over Iran-linked activity in the past year, and that it now has "ambitions to come at harder targets, like military sites" including RAF Fairford.

  3. 1

    McCallum says state threats have quadrupled, Russia "aggressor number one"

    In his annual threat speech at MI5's London headquarters, Sir Ken McCallum said foreign adversary threats had quadrupled in a decade and that counter-terrorism and state-threats work were now of "pretty much equal scale".

    “These are not the actions of a great power with the strategic upper hand.”
    — Sir Ken McCallum
  4. 2

    MI5 warns AI could enable bioweapons and drone attacks

    McCallum said AI was "supercharging" the cybersecurity contest between attackers and defenders and that MI5 had caught terrorists trying to combine AI with drones and potentially develop novel bioweapons; he announced a new AI Threat Assessment Centre.

    “Russia remains "aggressor number one" and is fighting a hybrid war against the UK that is not being taken seriously enough.”
    — ottoenglish.bsky.social, Bluesky poster · source
    1. 10 outlets Iran has made ‘major shift’ to target UK military sites, says MI5 chief

      first by Financial Times, 20h ago · also Globe and Mail, Arab News, SCMP, Times of India, Times of Israel, Al Jazeera +3

      9 more headlines
    2. 6 outlets UK facing ‘new era of national security’ with most foreign threats since Cold War, MI5 chief warns

      first by The Independent, 20h ago · also NYT, Sky News, Hindustan Times, Legal Insurrection, Independent UK

      4 more headlines
    3 more claims →
    • ottoenglish.bsky.social

      Sir Ken McCallum head of MI5 - Russia remains "aggressor number one" and is fighting a hybrid war against the UK that is not being taken seriously enough. This "war" did not start last week. It's been going on for a decade+ and those denying it should be challenged.

      ottoenglish.bsky.socialBluesky20h ago1.2k▲view on Bluesky ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 9 posts in this stretch

    • 🚨🇬🇧🇮🇷 MI5 chief is warning that Iran is now targeting MILITARY BASES on British soil... More than 50 people have been arrested over Iran-linked operations in just one year... MI5 Dir. Gen. McCallum says Tehran has escalated from suspected arson and sabotage attacks against

      @MarioNawfalX18h ago11▲view on X ↗

    • UK in ‘new era of national security’ as AI supercharges rising threats, security chief warns https://www. cnn.com/2026/10/13/world/video /france-hack-uk-mi5-cybersecurity-mccallum-ai-live-ctw-101310aseg2-cnni-world-fast?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into World News @ world-news-CNN

      CNN@flipboard.comMastodon16h ago1▲view on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  5. background

    McCallum flags surge in far-right radicalisation toward violence — McCallum said a shift from anti-immigration and anti-Muslim sentiment into terrorist intent was "the most marked trend" in MI5's caseload over the past year, citing plots against migrants, Muslims and political figures.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 5 outlets Factbox-MI5 chief lists Iran, Russia, AI and terrorists among threats to UK

    first by Al-Monitor, 16h ago · also BBC, Reuters, Straits Times, NYT

    3 more headlines
  2. 3 outlets UK faces rising threat from far-right terrorism, warns MI5 chief

    first by Anadolu Agency, 11h ago · also Semafor, BBC

    2 more headlines
  3. 3 outlets Londoners face new AI bioweapons terror danger: Key points from MI5 Director General’s threat speech

    first by Evening Standard, 19h ago · also Politico, Politico Europe

    1 more headline
  4. 2 outlets Iran Stepping Up Attacks on UK Military Sites, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum Says

    first by Political.org, 16h ago · also Jerusalem Post

    1 more headline

and 3 smaller pieces

What people are saying 8 voices from 3 sites · best of 14 · verbatim