UK bans support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be designated a threat to national security under new government powers.

Mahmood said the new measures would ban support for the IRGC, which has been linked to death threats, attacks and intimidation in the UK. Under the new rules, expressing support for or assisting the group will become an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

In a written statement to Parliament, the Home Secretary also announced the proscription of two other groups — the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR) and the volunteer corps of Russia’s GRU (foreign military intelligence agency).

The government said the new powers would strengthen the ability of police and intelligence agencies to tackle espionage, foreign interference, sabotage and physical attacks linked to the groups.

According to the government, Iran’s IRGC is believed to have directed seven attacks on UK locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities, including the antisemitic arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green on March 23, which the IMCR publicly claimed responsibility for.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the government would never allow Britain to become “a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets.”

He said: “We have already taken tough action against the Iranian regime and those linked to it, and against Russian operatives and networks targeting our country.

“These new powers will make it easier to prosecute and lock up anyone carrying out their dirty work here in Britain.”

If approved by Parliament later this week, those carrying out acts of sabotage, including arson, on behalf of the proscribed groups could face life imprisonment. The changes will also remove the need for prosecutors to establish a foreign power connection in every case, making prosecutions easier.

Mahmood said: “Iran and Russia are using proxies and thugs to do their dirty work on our shores.

“I have rapidly designated three groups so those working for them will be tracked down and put behind bars.”

MI5 has identified at least 20 potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots against people in the UK over the past year and says the IRGC plays a central role in Iran’s overseas operations, particularly targeting the Jewish community and Iranian dissidents.

The IRGC was established after Iran’s 1979 revolution to defend the country’s Islamic system and has since grown into a powerful state institution with an estimated 190,000 active personnel.

The organisation has long been accused by Western countries of sponsoring terrorism abroad and is already listed as a terrorist organisation by Australia, Canada and the United States. The European Union added the IRGC to its terror list in January following its reported role in the crackdown on anti-government protesters in Iran.

The UK government said the new powers were necessary in response to increasing state-backed threats, which have become more sophisticated and increasingly rely on proxy groups.

Home Office minister Angela Eagle said the IRGC was “a central component of the Iranian state’s security apparatus” and that its activities extend beyond those of a conventional military force to include intelligence operations, proxy actors and efforts to advance Iran’s state objectives.

Credit: BBC