Key facts
- The UK faces a more diverse terror threat, including far-right anti-migrant sentiment.
- Iran is undertaking violent and deadly plots in the UK, alongside Russia.
- MI5 Director General Ken McCallum noted an increase in individuals moving from hostility to terrorist intent.
- McCallum warned that AI could be used to refine terror plots and develop bioweapons.
- Two Iranians were charged with attempting to make a chlorine powder bomb to target Jewish sites in Manchester.
The UK's intelligence agency, MI5, has identified a growing and diversifying terror threat, encompassing far-right extremism, state-sponsored plots from Iran and Russia, and the potential misuse of artificial intelligence. MI5 Director General Ken McCallum highlighted that years of anti-migrant and anti-Muslim hostility are increasingly leading individuals to "tip into terrorist intent," moving from rhetoric to violence, often fueled by political hate narratives and online subcultures.