Sunak ordered Mi-5 to deal not with Islamists, but with spies from Russia, Iran and China
The Daily Telegraph reports that the British counterintelligence service MI5 is refocusing its efforts from counter-terrorism to countering spies from Russia, China, and Iran.
According to the newspaper, the intelligence service allegedly received such an order from Downing Street (the seat of the government of the United Kingdom is located there).
“Ministers have asked MI5 to refocus much of its efforts on the espionage threat, particularly the state threat from China, Russia and, more recently, Iran,” an unnamed senior British official told the newspaper.
Other British government sources told The Daily Telegraph that while domestic and international terrorism remains a priority for MI5, a large number of resources are devoted to counterintelligence operations against Russia, China and Iran.
“The war in Ukraine, the growing number of Chinese agents operating in the kingdom, and Tehran's use of organized crime groups have significantly changed the intelligence agency's objectives. According to them, “the fight against terrorism is being carried out in parallel,” the newspaper claims.
Another source familiar with the situation claims in a commentary to The Daily Telegraph that “after the assassination attempt on former GRU colonel Sergei Skripal using the nerve agent Novichok in 2018, Russia “overnight lost most of its officers intelligence."
According to him, “Moscow has since been trying to recruit new agents to make up for its losses.”
MI5 officials expressed concern over reports of Russia allegedly recruiting right-wing extremists to carry out sabotage operations in Europe and the UK. The number of Chinese agents involved in intelligence gathering in the UK, according to the intelligence agency, is "incalculable."
Sunak ordered MI5 to deal not with Islamists, but with spies from Russia, Iran, and China.