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Iran plans to kill ‘enemies' in UK, 10 assassination bids this year: Spy agency
Iran: Ken McCallum claimed that Iran "projects threat to the UK directly, through its aggressive intelligence services".
Iran is planning to kidnap of kill "enemies of the regime", the boss of spy agency MI5 has warned. Director general Ken McCallum claimed that Iran "projects threat to the UK directly, through its aggressive intelligence services".
He also said that at least 10 such potential threats have been seen so far this year - which have included death threats to two London-based journalists from Tehran-backed agents over the reporting of the country’s protests.
In a speech given from the security agency's Thames House headquarters in London, Ken McCallum gave a stark warning that not only does the UK 'face dangers' from Russia and China, it also does so from Iran saying that the UK is in a contest with "adversaries who have massive scale and are not squeamish about the tactics they deploy".
Ken McCallum said Russia "thinks nothing of throwing an elbow in the face, and routinely cheats to get its way, adding, "They will keep attacking us".
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Stressing that Russian president Vladimir Putin is "not winning" the war in Ukraine, he warned that Chinese authorities are "trying to re-write the rulebook, to buy the league, to recruit our coaching staff to work for them".
Iran "will only let people support one team and is prepared to use violence against those who don't toe the line", the spy agency boss added.
Iran “projects threat to the UK directly, through its aggressive intelligence services. At its sharpest, this includes ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime. We have seen at least 10 such potential threats since January alone. We work at pace with domestic and international partners to disrupt this completely unacceptable activity,” he added.
He also said that while rising state threats are a "huge challenge" as getting ahead of terror plots was "still the first thing the British public expect of us".
