(SeaPRwire) –   By: Marcus Sinclair

Britain’s existing counterterror laws have a gaping flaw that left authorities hamstrung for years. State-backed hostile actors don’t fit the old terror group framework, especially groups tied to formal government structures. MI5 has flagged rising risks from Iran, Russia and China for months, with no clear legal path to crack down on their proxy networks. That gridlock just got a potential solution this week.

The National Security (State Threats) Bill was introduced Tuesday. It gives Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood power to designate groups engaging in foreign power threat activity. Supporting designated groups or accepting their funds carries up to 14 years in prison. Last year, MI5 tracked over 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots on UK soil, with a 35% rise in state threat investigations. The bill could target Iran’s IRGC, though no immediate designation has been confirmed. It also covers actors linked to Russia and China, following recent related espionage convictions.

The bill will likely pass with cross-party support, as legislators recognize the existing legal shortfall. If it takes effect next month as planned, it will become a blueprint for other EU states grappling with identical state proxy threat gaps. The first IRGC designation will land before the end of the law’s first operational year.

Author bio: Marcus Sinclair, Senior Fellow at a leading European geopolitical security think tank, specializing in Western counterterror and state threat policy.