The general director of UK Security Service (the intelligence agency known as MI5), Ken McCallumpresented this Tuesday its annual report on the threats facing the country. As explained in a press conference at the London Anti-Terrorist Operations Centre, the greatest concern comes from the threat from Russia and Iranbut also the resurgence of the Islamic State. “We have a hell of a job to do,” he indicated.
“The trend that worries me most is the worsening threat of Al Qaeda and, in particular, of Islamic State“, since “after a few years of being well anchored, they have resumed efforts to export terrorism,” he noted. In fact, over the last month, more than a third of MI5’s top priority investigations have had links with terrorist groups organized abroad.
Likewise, McCallum has also explained that Russian Intelligence (the GRU) is involved in a long-term mission aimed at “generate chaos on British and European streets.” In this sense, the head of MI5 has indicated that there have been numerous confabulations of murder and sabotage in the country. In fact, he has detailed that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, More than 750 Russian diplomats have been expelled from Europe, “a large majority of them spies”.
This, according to the official, would have been a major blow to the capabilities of the Russian intelligence services. It should be remembered that the United Kingdom and many other countries in Europe are denying diplomatic visas to those They are suspected of spying for the Kremlin. For this reason, McCallum explained, Russian state actors have turned to criminal gangs and private companies “to do their dirty work,” the agency reported. Reuters.
Likewise, according to the latest balance, since January 2022, MI5 and the British police have responded to 20 conspiracies backed by Iran “that posed potentially lethal threats to British citizens and residents of the United Kingdom.” According to McCallum, these intensified after the death of the young Masha Amini in the custody of the Iranian morality police in September 2022. “There have been plot after plot“he emphasized.
Apparently, in the same way as Russia, Iran has also been using criminal powers, such as drug traffickers or low-level criminals, to carry out sabotage.
China, “significant risk”
China has also not been missing from the risk analysis, which poses a threat to the United Kingdom especially in terms of obtaining confidential information from companies and the academic world. However, McCallum said, China is “different” and because of the complex relationship the two countries have, its analysis requires a more nuanced approach.
“The economic relationship between the United Kingdom and China supports the growth of the United Kingdom, which underpins our security. And there are also risks to manage,” he noted. “The options are complex and it is rightly up to ministers to make the big strategic judgments about our relationship with China.”
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