UK Intel Chief Claims Russia Plotting “Mayhem”, Iran Also Involve

Russia’s intelligence service aims to cause “mayhem” in the UK due to London’s support for Ukraine, according to the head of Britain’s domestic intelligence service. On Tuesday, Ken McCallum stated that MI5 has dealt with 20 Iran-backed plots since January 2022. These plots posed potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents.

McCallum claims that Russia and Iran turned to criminals and private officers to do their work in the UK.

“Continued Acts Of Aggression”

Britain should “expect to see continued acts of aggression” from Russia at home, said McCallum. He warned that Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, is on “sustained missions to generate mayhem” on UK streets. “We’ve seen arson, sabotage, and more,” he added.

Regarding Iran, McCallum said there had been an “unprecedented pace and scale” of plots in the past two years. MI5 is giving its “fullest attention” to the risk of rising Iranian-state backed aggression in the UK due to events in the Middle East.

Since March 2017, MI5 and the police have disrupted 43 late-stage attack plots, saving “numerous lives,” McCallum said. He added that some plotters were in the final days of planning mass murder, trying to acquire firearms and explosives.

Extreme Right-Wing Ideologies

In his wide-ranging speech, McCallum also highlighted the role of extreme right-wing ideologies in the “staggering” rise of children being investigated for terrorism. Under-18s now make up 13 percent of people under investigation by MI5 for potential terror involvement. This figure marks “a threefold increase in the last three years,” he said.

McCallum cited the internet as the “biggest factor” behind this rise, noting how easily young people can access “inspirational and instructional material” from their bedrooms. He said MI5 is seeing “far too many cases” of very young people being lured into online extremism, pointing out the use of “canny” internet memes.

“Extreme right-wing terrorism in particular skews heavily towards young people,” he said, driven by propaganda with a deep understanding of online culture. McCallum added that there isn’t a consistent ideology on the extreme right-wing side, which has caused the numbers to spike.

The UK’s terrorist threat level remains at “substantial,” meaning an attack is likely. McCallum also noted that the Islamic State group has “resumed efforts to export terrorism.” He said inquiries into plots by hostile states have surged by 48 percent in the past year.