UK’s MI5 spy chief: Overall threat from Iran, Russia and China is growing in severity

UK’s MI5 spy chief: Overall threat from Iran, Russia and China is growing in severity
Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. (AFP)
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Updated 14 October 2020
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UK’s MI5 spy chief: Overall threat from Iran, Russia and China is growing in severity

UK’s MI5 spy chief: Overall threat from Iran, Russia and China is growing in severity

LONDON: The overall threat from Russia, China and Iran is growing in severity and complexity, the UK’s MI5 spy chief Ken McCallum said on Wednesday. 

McCallum, in his first major remarks since being named as the new boss of MI5 in March when Britain was under national lockdown, said terrorist threats also persist.

"One of the toughest challenges facing MI5 and indeed government is that the differing national security challenges presented by Russian, Chinese, Iranian and other actors are growing in severity and in complexity – while terrorist threats persist at scale,” he said.  

The head of MI5 added that British spies are trying to defend COVID-19 vaccine work against hostile powers that seek to steal or sabotage research data in the race to find a jab providing immunity.