UK spy chief says Iran is stepping up targeting of military bases

MI5 chief says operations linked to Iran led to 50 arrests during the past year.Published On 13 Oct 202613 Oct 2026The head of the United Kingdom’s domestic spy agency has said Iran is ramping up attempts to strike sensitive military targets after a series of incidents at airbases in Britain, even as Tehran has denied any involvement.In his annual speech, M15 Director-General Ken McCallum on Tuesday said there had been a major shift in Tehran’s calculus this year and that “Iranian ambitions to come at harder targets, like military sites”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3UK PM says RAF base incidents ‘likely coordinated’ by Iranlist 2 of 3UK blames Iran for airbase plot, sanctions two Iranian nationalslist 3 of 3Iran sees ‘false flag’ operations after UK blames IRGC for airbase incidentend of listMcCallum’s warning came after UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was “almost certainly” behind a suspected plot against Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford, an airbase used by US bombers to carry out strikes on Iran. The incident prompted the United States to withdraw its military jets from the facility over security concerns earlier ...