The chief of domestic intelligence agency has war in Gaza has not led to a direct increase in terrorist plots in the UK - but warned that could attack British citizens if the conflict in the Middle East escalates. MI5 director said in a speech at London's Counter Terrorism Operations Centre on Tuesday that "ripples from conflict in that region will not necessarily arrive at our shores in a straightforward fashion". He added such threats would instead "be filtered through the lens of online media and mixed with existing views and grievances in unpredictable ways".
McCallum said there is a "worsening threat from al-Qaeda and in particular from Islamic State", which has "resumed efforts to export terrorism". But he claimed that Iran has been behind "plot after plot" in Britain in the last two years, and that it has made "extensive use of criminals as proxies" to target people Tehran considers threatening. Twenty Iran-backed plots have been uncovered and foiled since January 2022, McCallum said, warning that if the conflict in the Middle East escalates, Iran could "repurpose" its criminal network to attack British citizens.
The Iranian foreign ministry has strongly the spy chief's "accusations", accusing Britain of hosting "terrorist groups", which it did not name. The intelligence chief's comments come as a British former soldier stands trial for arranging to meet an Iranian "agent" in a north London park to pass on sensitive military information, where he was handed a "dog poo .
