Britain is moving to give authorities sweeping new powers to target foreign state-linked groups as officials warn of growing threats tied to Iran and other hostile governments.

The National Security (State Threats) Bill introduced Tuesday would give the UK government new powers to crack down on foreign state-linked organizations involved in activities such as assassination plots, surveillance and sabotage. The legislation could potentially be used against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG), though officials have not indicated whether the group would be among the first organizations designated.

The proposal comes as British intelligence officials warn of increasing Iran-backed activity inside the UK. Last year, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said the security service had tracked more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots and recorded a 35% increase in state-threat investigations.

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Under the legislation, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood would have the authority to designate groups responsible for what the government calls «foreign power threat activity.» Supporting designated organizations or accepting money from them could carry prison sentences of up to 14 years.

British authorities have also investigated possible Iranian links to several recent incidents, including arson attacks targeting Jewish sites. The UK has separately secured convictions against individuals accused of spying for or acting on behalf of Russian and Chinese entities.

The bill would create a new framework for tackling threats posed by foreign governments and their proxies, an area critics say Britain’s existing counterterrorism laws were not designed to address.

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Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, attends a meeting in Tehran in this file photo. Britain this week introduced legislation that could be used to designate foreign state-linked groups, including potentially Iran’s IRGC. (Press office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei/Getty Images)

Labour MP Luke Akehurst, one of Parliament’s leading advocates for action against the IRGC, said the organization presents a unique challenge because it 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 Thames House headquarters of MI5 in London on Nov. 18, 2025. Britain’s domestic security service has warned of growing state-backed threats, including more than 20 Iran-backed plots uncovered in the UK, as lawmakers consider new legislation targeting foreign state-linked groups. (Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Supporters of the legislation argue it would close gaps in Britain’s ability to target hostile state-backed actors without relying solely on terrorism laws.

If approved, the legislation could take effect as soon as next month, with officials expected to make a limited number of designations during the law’s first year.

La presidenta de Costa Rica, Laura Fernández, lanzó duras críticas hacia el Poder Judicial durante una conferencia de prensa, expresando su preocupación por la reciente liberación de delincuentes peligrosos y la falta de castigos eficientes para quienes cometen delitos graves en el país.

En su intervención, Fernández se refirió al caso de tres miembros de la banda criminal “Los Marujas” en Cartago, quienes, a pesar de haber sido detenidos por el Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) con cientos de dosis de drogas, armas y antecedentes penales, fueron puestos en libertad por la jueza Ana Laura García Delgado. La mandataria reclamó: “Con lo que cuesta que los agarren, con lo que cuesta que les den una condena y que tengan la vergüenza de dejarlos sueltos”. Fernández destacó que esta banda lleva más de veinte años operando en la provincia, sumando decenas de hechos violentos.

La presidenta también señaló la preocupación nacional por la impunidad ante delitos cometidos en cárceles. Mencionó que, a pesar de que introducir celulares a centros penales es un delito sancionado, la Fiscalía ha optado por imponer sanciones administrativas, lo que, según Fernández, envía un mensaje equivocado a la sociedad y fomenta la continuidad de prácticas delictivas desde las prisiones.

Durante su discurso, Laura Fernández señaló directamente a las máximas autoridades del Poder Judicial: “Doña Patricia Solano, usted le está fallando a este país. Don Rolando Aguirre, el presidente del Poder Judicial, usted le está fallando a Costa Rica y se lo tengo que decir yo, porque soy la representante de este pueblo electa en urnas. Los dos deberían de considerar seriamente hacerse a un lado. Y si ya no pueden, denle el espacio a otra persona con sangre fresca que pueda tomar el mando del Poder Judicial”. La mandataria enfatizó que no se trata de un ataque personal, sino de una alerta ante una situación que considera grave para la seguridad pública.

Fernández pidió respuestas sobre las razones detrás de la liberación de delincuentes y cuestionó si los jueces actúan bajo presión, amenazas o corrupción. “Este pueblo se merece que el Poder Judicial nos diga si los jueces que están liberando delincuentes es porque los corrompieron, porque los tienen amenazados, por las dos cosas. Pero no se vale que un día sí y otro también los dejen sueltos y nadie le dé respuesta a este país, porque el salario de ustedes y el mío también lo paga el pueblo de Costa Rica”, afirmó en su intervención.

La presidenta hizo un llamado enfático a la Asamblea Legislativa para que ejerza su función de control político: “Hago un llamado a la Asamblea Legislativa, que es a la que le toca ejercer el control político parlamentario sobre los supremos poderes. Deberían de estar llamando a cuentas ya al presidente del Poder Judicial, a la magistrada Solano y a estos fiscales que un día sí y otro también están dejando sueltos a delincuentes de alta gama en el país”, a través de su conferencia semanal.

Durante la conferencia, Laura Fernández subrayó el esfuerzo realizado por el Gobierno en materia de seguridad, gestionando recursos, promoviendo leyes y coordinando con cuerpos policiales. Insistió en que, pese a los esfuerzos estatales, las acciones del Poder Judicial debilitan la sensación de justicia y seguridad en la población. “No se vale que la gente buena de Cartago y de todo el país tenga que vivir encerrada en la casa por miedo y que los maleantes anden sueltos”, expresó la mandataria.

Fernández concluyó su intervención reiterando la necesidad de que el país actúe con firmeza: “Estamos a tiempo que Costa Rica no se caiga por un despeñadero”. Su llamado busca que las distintas instituciones asuman la responsabilidad de garantizar justicia y seguridad a la ciudadanía, en medio de una crisis que ha generado alarma social en todo el país.

FIRST ON FOX: U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper is facing a judicial misconduct complaint from a conservative watchdog group, which argues he should have recused himself from a lawsuit involving President Donald Trump’s effort to rename the Kennedy Center.

The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) alleged that Cooper should have bowed out of the case because his wife, Amy Jeffress, has a history of representing what the group described as «anti-Trump» clients. In May, Cooper ruled against Trump by permanently blocking the renaming of the Kennedy Center after Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed a lawsuit.

CASA filed a complaint with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday, alleging Cooper failed to disclose or recuse himself despite what it called significant financial and professional interests stemming from his wife’s involvement in litigation against Trump.

«CASA is filing a judicial complaint against Obama-appointed DC District Court Judge Christopher Cooper for his potentially unethical behavior after his failure to recuse himself from the frivolous Kennedy Center lawsuit filed against President Trump, given his wife’s financial interests in opposing President Trump’s agenda through litigation,» CASA Director of Research and Policy Curtis Schube said in a statement.

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The complaint comes more than a week after Trump slammed Cooper for having a «conflict of interest,» pointing to Cooper’s wife, Amy Jeffress’, track record of representing Trump’s biggest foes, including former anti-Trump FBI lawyer Lisa Page, and currently representing former President Joe Biden, who is suing Trump’s Justice Department over the release of Robert Hur’s interview recordings.

«Cooper’s wife is longtime Democrat activist and attorney Amy Jeffress. Jeffress is the former counsel to the January 6th committee, works as former President Biden’s personal lawyer, and currently represents Biden in ongoing litigation against President Trump,» Schube said. «There was a clear need for Cooper to recuse himself from this matter, or at the very least disclose these conflicts. By doing neither, Cooper caused — at the very least — an appearance of impropriety, which warrants a full investigation.»

The complaint does not challenge Cooper’s ruling itself, but it argues that his involvement in the case could raise reasonable questions about his ability to be impartial under the federal judiciary’s Code of Conduct.

Sign on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Getty Images)

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«We are deeply concerned with the fact that a sitting federal judge did not recuse himself, and adjudicated to disposition, a case from which he and his spouse financially benefit,» the complaint states. «Indeed, a large portion of his wife’s business model appears to rely on handling litigation that is anti-Trump in nature.»

CASA argues that Cooper may have violated Canon 1, which requires judges to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary.

Read the complaint below. App users: Click here

«Canon 1 requires that a judge uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary,» the filing states. «Judge Cooper, presumably, goes home every night to his wife whose career is predicated on suing President Trump.»

CASA argued Cooper is in violation of Canon 2, which requires judges to avoid situations that could appear improper, even when no actual misconduct has occurred.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on June 10, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

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«More specifically, Canon 2 lists occasions when the appearance of a relationship affects a judge’s ability to adjudicate a case: 1) when public confidence is hampered; and 2) when spousal relationships influence judicial conduct,» the complaint stated. «Both problems are present here.»

The complaint also argues that Cooper violated Canon 3, which requires judges to remain fair and impartial and that recusal may be warranted when a judge’s spouse’s interests or potential partisan influences could reasonably raise questions about that impartiality.

The complaint concludes by urging the D.C. Circuit to investigate Cooper and determine whether disciplinary action is warranted.

Appointed by President Barack Obama, Cooper has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., since 2014.

Cooper has long been the target of conflict of interest allegations from Trump and his allies. The judge drew scrutiny during Special Counsel John Durham’s prosecution of former Clinton campaign-linked attorney Michael Sussmann, which was a part of Durham’s broader probe into the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation centered on the now-debunked Russian-Trump collusion theory.

Critics argued then that he should have recused himself because his wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, represented former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, a figure tied to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

Fox News Digital reached out to Cooper and Jeffress for comment.