Criminals backed by Iran and Russian-state proxies to face 14 years in jail under tough new powers

Criminals backed by Iran and Russian-state proxies to face 14 years in jail under tough new powers MI5 has tracked 20 potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots in the past year alone - Bookmark Criminals who commit arson and criminal damage on behalf of state-linked proxies will face up to 14 years behind bars under tough new laws. New powers proposed in the State Threats Bill will allow ministers to list organisations they believe are front groups for hostile foreign states, such as Iran or Russia. Anyone then found to be assisting or receiving payment from these groups will face longer behind bars if they are convicted. A new offence of supporting hostile proxy groups will also be created if the bill, presented to parliament today, is approved. Ministers hope the tough powers will act as a deterrent to lower-level criminals, many of whom are teenagers, who are being commissioned by state-linked proxies to carry out acts of intimidation and vandalism. Ten or fewer groups are expected to be identified as engaged in foreign power threat activity in the first year, it is understood. Investigations by the UK spy agency MI5 into state threats have increased 35 per cent as of last year, with 20 potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots tracked. Home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the new powers after a man allegedly attempted to murder two Jewish people in Golders Green and a friend of his from the Somali community in south London in April this year. The UK’s terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe after the attack, although there has been no suggestion that the alleged perpetrator Essa Suleiman had been commissioned to carry out the stabbing. He will stand trial in March next year. There has been a recent rise in violent attacks on Jewish people and businesses in the UK, with a Hezbollah-linked terror group claiming a series of arson attacks around Europe including an attack on Jewish ambulances in north London. Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) has claimed nearly 20 attacks targeting Jewish people and business and American companies. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has claimed that HAYI is a front of Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shia paramilitary group that is a proxy for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The details emerged in a complaint, filed in the Federal District Court in Manhattan, against an alleged commander of the militia, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi. He is accused of planning at least 20 attacks against US and Israeli interests in Europe and Canada since late February. Hostile states, such as Russia and Iran, have increasingly been using criminal groups or proxies to co-ordinate attacks in the West, with the perpetrators often not knowing who they are working for. Under the additional powers, criminals hired to carry out sabotage will not need to know exactly who is commissioning them, instead it will be argued that they should reasonably know that a hostile state was behind the plan. The government could issue warnings about the types of attacks they believe hostile state actors are commissioning, such as the targeting of warehouses or synagogues. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said the new powers would “ensure that such actions have consequences”. Ms Mahmood said that foreign states were “becoming ever more aggressive - attacking our communities, our way of life, and our institutions - and hiding their tracks behind proxies”. She added: “These new powers should send a clear message to anyone doing the dirty work of a foreign state – we will come after you and you will face the full force of the law.”