Peers back powers to ban Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Powers will tackle Iranian-backed groups recruiting criminals for acts targeting the Jewish community
Peers have backed a move to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a threat to national security.
The move is designed to tackle Iranian-backed groups recruiting criminals for acts targeting the Jewish community under draft powers passed unanimously in the House of Lords on Thursday.
With Lord Katz alongside him on the Labour front bench, Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint told peers: “Threats from foreign powers and their proxies have grown in scale and complexity.
“Designation is a powerful tool for disrupting state bodies and those acting in concert with them, and it sends a strong message of the UK’s commitment to tackling foreign power threat activity globally.”
The Board of Deputies, and Jewish Leadership Council have been among communal groups calling for the ban on the IRGC, along with Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
Other Jewish peers to welcome the introduction of the powers in the Lords on Thursday included Baroness Margaret Hodge.
Those carrying out acts of sabotage on behalf of the group will face life imprisonment.
It follows a series of arson attacks in London earlier this year and a double stabbing in Golders Green.
The draft powers were previously supported by the Commons on Wednesday.
The draft regulations to ban the IRGC follow the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026, which introduced a maximum punishment of 14 years in prison for anyone supporting or assisting designated groups.
Peers also agreed to label the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Volunteer Corps threats to national security under the proposed regulations.
Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right is a new terrorism group with suspected links to pro-Iranian networks, according to Israel’s ministry for diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism.
It has claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks, including the torching of Jewish community ambulances in Golders Green earlier this year.