A look at the Iran and Russia-linked hybrid attacks the U.K. spy chief says are flourishing

October 14, 2026 / 12:55 PM EDT / CBS News

London — The head of Britain's top domestic spy agency MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, painted a dark picture Tuesday of the changing national security threats facing the U.K. and the world.

"We have entered a new era of national security, requiring a new response," he said in his annual threat update at MI5 headquarters in London. "Those who mean the U.K. harm aren't attacking things government owns or controls … They're aiming at people, businesses, communities."

McCallum said that among state threats, "Russia remains aggressor number one," while intelligence analysts have also seen a "major shift" in "Iranian ambitions to come at harder targets."

Both countries, he said, have adopted more and evolving "hybrid tactics" as they target everything from air force bases to synagogues across the U.K. and Europe. Below is a look at some of the incidents that fit that description over the last year alone.

Iran has used and continues "using criminal proxies to try to intimidate oppositionists, Iranian media organizations, and Israeli sites," McCallum said.

But analysts have also seen "Iran, like Russia, attempting to expand their hybrid campaign," he said, leading to more than 50…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/