UK PM Starmer warns Iran over inciting antisemitism, announces new funding and anti-terror powers

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Iran on Tuesday that attempts to incite antisemitism in Britain "will not be tolerated," as he hosted a Downing Street summit on rising anti-Jewish hate. "Our message to Iran, or to any other country that might seek to foment violence, hatred or division in society, is that it will not be tolerated," Starmer said. He added that police are investigating whether a foreign state was behind recent attacks, including the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green on April 29. "One of the lines of inquiry is whether a foreign state has been behind some of these incidents," Starmer said.

Two Jewish men — Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76 — were stabbed in Golders Green, north London, on April 29. Essa Suleiman, 45, has been charged with three counts of attempted murder in relation to the attack, including a third man — Ishmail Hussein, who knew Suleiman — who was attacked earlier the same day. The Metropolitan Police declared the incident a terrorist attack. Counterterrorism officers are also investigating a suspected arson attack at a former synagogue in Whitechapel, east London, which took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The government announced an extra £1.5 million in funding to strengthen community cohesion and protect Jews in areas where they face the greatest risk. An additional £500,000 was allocated to Barnet Council, reflecting recent serious antisemitic acts in the borough and the large number of Jewish residents there. The government also announced an extra £25 million for police patrols in Jewish communities, and a £7 million investment in tackling antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities.

Ministers are planning new anti-terror powers that would enable them to ban state threats such as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the next parliamentary session. Starmer said the government was "fast-tracking legislation to tackle these malign threats." Universities will now be expected to publish information about the scale of antisemitism on their campuses and the specific steps they have taken to clamp down on it, Starmer announced. He also said the Arts Council must "claw back" funding from organizations that promote antisemitism, and announced an independent audit of how allegations are handled.

Last week, the terrorism threat level in the UK was increased from "substantial" to "severe" for the first time in four years. Two Jewish people were killed in a car ramming and stabbing attack outside a synagogue in Manchester in October 2025. In 2025 there were 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the UK, according to the Community Security Trust (CST), the charity that provides security for the Jewish community. Starmer described the situation as "a crisis" and said the country must confront "the forces that drive this hatred in the first place."