More than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots have been tracked in the UK in just one year, according to MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum. This stark assessment underpins new legislation introduced to Parliament this week, designed to counter a growing threat from hostile foreign powers using state-linked organizations as proxies for attacks on British soil.

The National Security (State Threats) Bill, introduced on Tuesday, would empower the Home Secretary to designate groups like Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as national threats. This move aims to close a critical loophole in existing law, which has struggled to address organizations that operate on behalf of states but fall outside traditional counter-terrorism frameworks.

Closing a Critical Legal Gap

The proposed legislation allows Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to designate groups involved in "foreign power threat activity," a broad category encompassing assassination attempts, surveillance, and sabotage. Crucially, it also creates three new criminal offenses: supporting a designated state threat organization, assisting such a group, and accepting material benefit from it.

This bill emerged from a recommendation by Jonathan Hall KC, the government's Independent Reviewer of State Threats Legislation. Hall concluded that it was difficult to ban state-linked entities like the IRGC as traditional terrorist organizations, necessitating a distinct legal framework. The new law is seen in Whitehall as a vital upgrade to the National Security Act 2023, which officials now consider quickly out of date due to evolving threats.

A Shift in Hostile Tactics

The need for this new bill has been underscored by a series of recent cases where hostile foreign powers have used criminal proxies rather than direct intelligence agency operations. In the past year alone, convictions in the UK have highlighted this trend:

  • Men were found guilty of spying on Hong Kong dissidents on behalf of China.
  • An arson attack on a Ukrainian warehouse in London was carried out for Russia's Wagner Group.
  • An opposition journalist was stabbed in Wimbledon on behalf of Iran.

In the latter two cases, the individuals who carried out the attacks were criminals acting for financial gain, illustrating how foreign states are increasingly outsourcing their malign activities. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer emphasized this point, stating, "Where foreign states are found to be engaging in activity that threatens lives or undermines our democratic institutions, we must ensure that such actions have consequences. We will not tolerate hostile actors paying petty criminals to do their dirty work."

Home Secretary Mahmood echoed this sentiment, noting, "Foreign states are becoming ever more aggressive – attacking our communities, our way of life, and our institutions – and hiding their tracks behind proxies. We must adapt to keep pace."

Iran's IRGC in the Crosshairs

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stands as a prominent example of the type of organization the new bill targets. Established after Iran's 1979 revolution to defend the country's new Islamic system, the IRGC has evolved into a powerful arm of the state with significant reach beyond Iran's borders. Its activities have been a particular concern for UK security services, as evidenced by Sir Ken McCallum's warning about the more than 20 lethal Iran-backed plots tracked in the UK.

The urgency to fast-track this legislation intensified following recent attacks on Jewish targets in the UK, some of which were claimed by a new group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin. This highlights the immediate and evolving nature of the threats the bill seeks to address.

Key Takeaways

  • The UK's new National Security (State Threats) Bill allows the Home Secretary to designate state-linked organizations as national threats.
  • This legislation directly addresses the growing use of criminal proxies by hostile foreign powers, a gap in the existing National Security Act 2023.
  • The bill creates new criminal offenses for supporting or benefiting from designated groups, with Iran's IRGC specifically cited as a potential target.

With the bill fast-tracked through Parliament, it could become law as early as next month. The immediate focus will be on the Home Secretary's first designations, which officials anticipate will number fewer than ten in the initial year, signaling a significant shift in the UK's approach to state-sponsored threats.