Downing St protest to urge Starmer to proscribe IRGC

A protest outside Downing Street on Sunday will call on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to take decisive action over Iran’s human rights abuses and what organisers describe as an escalating security threat to the UK posed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The peaceful demonstration, due to take place at 3pm outside Number 10, is being held amid a renewed wave of protests inside Iran and growing concern about Iranian state-linked activity targeting dissidents and activists in Britain.

Campaigners are urging the government to formally proscribe the IRGC under UK law, arguing that the organisation plays a central role in violent repression inside Iran and in hostile operations beyond its borders.

International human rights groups have long accused the IRGC of using lethal force, mass arrests and arbitrary detention to suppress dissent. Organisers say those tactics have intensified in response to the latest nationwide protests across Iran.

Concerns surrounding the IRGC extend to the UK itself. In 2023, the Metropolitan Police and MI5 revealed they had disrupted up to 15 kidnap or assassination plots linked to Iranian state actors or proxies in that year alone, highlighting the risks faced by journalists, dissidents and members of the Iranian diaspora living in Britain.

In July 2025, the UK joined the United States and allied nations in publicly accusing Iran of orchestrating cross-border assassination and abduction attempts, often carried out through criminal intermediaries.

For Jewish communities, organisers point to the IRGC’s documented financial, logistical and military support for UK-proscribed terrorist organisations, including Hamas and Hezbollah, arguing that this record strengthens the case for proscription on both national security and moral grounds.

The protest is framed as a direct appeal to Sir Keir’s background as a former human rights lawyer, urging him to apply those principles to Iran and to the protection of communities living in the UK.

Organisers said: “Sir Keir Starmer understands better than most what it means to defend human rights under the law. As a former human rights lawyer, he knows that silence in the face of repression is not neutrality. We are calling on him to stand with the Iranian people and to ensure that those who threaten lives and freedoms, whether inside Iran or here in Britain, are held to account.”

Confirmed speakers include journalist Emily Schrader, human rights advocate Lily Moo, and academics Dr Laleh Tangrisi and Dr Namdar Baghaei-Yazdi, with music by Iranian artist Bahman Salahshour. The demonstration is expected to draw members of the Iranian diaspora and supporters from across the UK. Police have been informed.