“Russia and Iran are zeroing in on Western military facilities” ... UK’s MI5 issues sweeping warning on AI-enabled chemical and biological terrorism

[Financial News] The head of the UK’s domestic intelligence agency, the Security Service (MI5), has issued a sweeping security warning, saying Iran and Russia are stepping up operations directly targeting key military facilities in Europe. It will also establish a dedicated assessment center to prepare for the risk of AI technology being used in terrorism, including to develop new biochemical weapons.
MI5 chief Ken McCallum said in his annual security address on the 13th (local time) that national security threats had quadrupled over the past decade.
He noted a major change in Iran’s operational patterns in particular. Beyond dissidents and facilities linked to Israel, which had been its main targets, Iran is now seeking to strike key Western military facilities. Referring to a recent incident in which a British air base at Fairford, where U.S. bombers are stationed, narrowly escaped an attack, McCallum said, “This is not unique; similar cases are happening around the world.” More than 50 people are understood to have been arrested in the UK over operations linked to Iran in the past year alone.
McCallum still identified Russia as the West’s ‘No. 1 aggressor.’ He said, “Russia is expanding hybrid operations that combine conventional and modern tactics,” and assessed that it was “skillfully employing ‘gray-zone’ tactics that do not cross the threshold of Article 5, NATO’s collective defense clause.” He also said that Russian intelligence agencies, whose spy networks have been weakened by mass expulsions by Western countries, are increasingly recruiting operatives online.
The UK’s official security assessment stands in stark contrast to recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump. The previous day, Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social, “The claim that China and Russia are helping Iran is the nonsense of lunatics,” adding, “Even if they are helping, the extent would be very limited.” He thus played down the closeness of their ties.
McCallum also warned that AI had emerged as a new major threat to national security. Terrorists are using AI to rapidly advance their methods of reconnaissance and cyberattacks. He singled out the possibility that AI could be misused to develop entirely new biochemical weapons or pathogens as the most lethal threat.
To counter this, MI5 will establish a new ‘AI Threat Assessment Centre (AITAC)’ within the organization. The new center will work closely with major UK cybersecurity agencies, including the AI Security Institute (AISI) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), to comprehensively assess national security threats arising from AI and take preemptive action. 

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