UK Introduces National Security Bill Allowing Designation of Foreign State-Linked Groups With Up to 14 Years for Support

The National Security (State Threats) Bill was introduced on Tuesday to give the UK government new powers against foreign state-linked organizations involved in assassination plots, surveillance and sabotage. The legislation would let Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood designate groups responsible for what the government calls foreign power threat activity.

Supporting a designated organization or accepting money from one could carry prison sentences of up to 14 years.

British intelligence officials have warned of increasing Iran-backed activity inside the UK. Last year, MI5 tracked more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots and recorded a 35% increase in state-threat investigations, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said.

The bill could potentially be used against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, though officials have not indicated whether the group would be among the first organizations designated.

British authorities have investigated possible Iranian links to several recent arson attacks targeting Jewish sites. Labour MP Luke Akehurst, one of Parliament's leading advocates for action against the IRGC, said the organization operates as part of the Iranian state.

"As well as brutally repressing freedoms within Iran, the IRGC poses a dangerous threat here in the UK, which our existing terrorism proscription regime was ill-equipped to deal with as it is a state actor," Akehurst told The Jerusalem Post.

The UK has secured convictions against individuals accused of spying for or acting on behalf of Russian and Chinese entities. Critics have said Britain's existing counterterrorism laws were not designed to address threats posed by foreign governments and their proxies. The bill would create a new framework for tackling threats from foreign governments and their proxies.