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.

UK PM says RAF base incidents 'likely coordinated' by Iran

The 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”.

list 1 of 3 UK PM says RAF base incidents ‘likely coordinated’ by Iran

list 2 of 3 UK blames Iran for airbase plot, sanctions two Iranian nationals

list 3 of 3 Iran sees ‘false flag’ operations after UK blames IRGC for airbase incident

McCallum’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 this month.

The United States withdrew its B-1 Lancer and B-52 bombers from RAF Fairford on October 4, 2026, after a security breach at the airbase in Gloucestershire, the United Kingdom [File: David Bown/Getty Images]

UK airbase incidents

British police declared a major incident after three “suspicious” vans drove close to the RAF Fairford airbase in Gloucestershire on September 27. Five British men in their 20s were arrested “on suspicion of committing offences under the Explosives Act”, but all were released on bail.

Police said they found a supply of petrol in three vans linked to the suspects, but no explosives. The men were later released without charge on police bail “under stringent conditions”.

Two others were arrested later, including a British-Iranian national, but were later released. None of the men have been charged.

Two Latvian men were arrested for trespassing at RAF Molesworth, which is used by the US military and NATO for intelligence operations, on Friday. The men were also released on bail.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Monday that the government was sanctioning two Iranians for their “role in facilitating or engaging in hostile activity on behalf of the Iranian regime”.

One is Ruhollah Bazghandi, the head of IRGC counterespionage operations, and the other is Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki, whom British officials described as a facilitator for Iran’s Zindashti criminal network.

McCallum said he could not speak about the recent incident at RAF Fairford because it was an ongoing investigation, but added, “The RAF Fairford incident … is ⁠not unique. There have been other examples, not just in the UK but around the world.”

The spy chief said UK authorities had carried out 50 arrests over the past year to disrupt Iran-linked operations.

However, he said he doubted Iran’s ability to launch complex attacks, perhaps using explosive drones, due to the limited sophistication of operatives Tehran used in the UK.

“Given what we’ve actually seen in practice in the UK ⁠in recent years, that has not been anywhere near [that] level of capability,” McCallum said.

“That said, clearly it is the case that in countries closer to its own homeland, the IRGC has quite ⁠deep experience of using more conventional and hybrid technology in a more aggressive and ⁠sophisticated way,” the MI5 boss added.

Tehran has rejected accusations ‌of involvement in the Fairford incident or any other accusations of harmful activity in Britain.

英国军情五处处长称，过去一年中，与伊朗有关的行动导致50人被捕。

英国首相称皇家空军基地事件“很可能是伊朗协调策划的”。

英国国内情报机构负责人表示，在英国空军基地发生一系列事件后，伊朗正在加紧袭击敏感军事目标，尽管德黑兰方面否认参与其中。

英国军情五处处长肯·麦卡勒姆周二在年度讲话中表示，今年德黑兰的战略考量发生了重大转变，“伊朗的野心将转向更艰巨的目标，例如军事设施”。

英国首相称皇家空军基地事件“很可能由伊朗协调”，这是三起事件中的第一起。

英国指责伊朗策划空军基地阴谋，制裁两名伊朗公民（共3条，此为第2条）

伊朗方面称英国指责伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队发动空军基地事件后，伊朗方面认为伊朗正在实施“伪旗行动”。（共3条，此为第3条）

麦卡勒姆发出警告之前，英国首相安迪·伯纳姆表示，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队“几乎可以肯定”是针对英国皇家空军费尔福德基地（美国轰炸机曾使用该基地对伊朗进行空袭）的阴谋的幕后黑手。本月初，出于安全考虑，美国已从该基地撤回了所有军用飞机。

2026年10月4日，由于英国格洛斯特郡费尔福德皇家空军基地发生安全漏洞，美国从该基地撤回了B-1“枪骑兵”和B-52轰炸机。[图片：David Bown/Getty Images]

英国空军基地事件

9月27日，三辆“可疑”货车驶近格洛斯特郡的皇家空军费尔福德空军基地，英国警方宣布这是一起重大事件。五名20多岁的英国男子因“涉嫌违反爆炸物法”而被捕，但全部获准保释。

警方称，他们在与嫌疑人有关的三辆货车中发现了汽油，但没有发现爆炸物。这些男子随后在“严格的保释条件下”获释，未被起诉。

另有两人随后被捕，其中包括一名拥有英国和伊朗双重国籍的公民，但之后被释放。目前尚无人被起诉。

周五，两名拉脱维亚男子因擅闯英国皇家空军莫尔斯沃思基地而被捕。该基地被美国军方和北约用于情报行动。两人随后获准保释。

英国外交大臣埃德·米利班德周一表示，英国政府将对两名伊朗人实施制裁，原因是他们“在协助或代表伊朗政权从事敌对活动方面发挥了作用”。

其中一人是伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队反间谍行动负责人鲁霍拉·巴兹甘迪，另一人是沙赫拉姆·阿里·礼萨·塔马尔扎德·贾基，英国官员称他是伊朗“辛达什提”犯罪网络的协助者。

麦卡勒姆表示，由于皇家空军费尔福德基地最近发生的事件仍在调查中，他无法置评，但他补充说：“皇家空军费尔福德基地的事件……并非个例。不仅在英国，世界各地都发生过类似事件。”

这位情报主管表示，英国当局在过去一年中进行了 50 次逮捕行动，以破坏与伊朗有关的行动。

然而，他表示，由于德黑兰在英国使用的特工技术水平有限，他怀疑伊朗是否有能力发动复杂的袭击，例如使用爆炸性无人机。

麦卡勒姆说：“鉴于我们近年来在英国的实际所见，这远远没有达到那种能力水平。”

“也就是说，很明显，在离伊朗本土更近的国家，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队在使用更常规和混合技术方面拥有相当丰富的经验，而且手段更加激进和复杂，”军情五处负责人补充道。

德黑兰否认参与费尔福德事件或在英国从事任何其他有害活动的指控。