MI5 chief warns of escalating hybrid threats from Russia, Iran

The British intelligence agency is now devoting more resources to state threats than during the Cold War, Ken McCallum said. Iran and Russia are escalating their hybrid warfare campaigns against the UK, the head of MI5 warned Tuesday. The British intelligence agency is now devoting more resources to state threats than during the Cold War, Ken McCallum said in his annual speech, calling Moscow “ aggressor No. 1 ” and blaming Tehran for a series of sabotage incidents targeting Jewish communities in Europe. The spy chief said that Russia was using hybrid tactics that “stop short, though sometimes not much short, of conventional conflict.” The EU is quietly preparing for how to respond to a major — and deadly — hybrid attack, Politico reported, while NATO’s top general recently unveiled a “ theory of victory ” to counter an armed invasion: “ block, blunt, and break.”