The government has announced that it will designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of the Iranian regime as a terrorist group, making it a criminal offence to support, assist or obtain a material benefit from.
Draft regulations will be laid before Parliament to designate the IRGC, as well as Russia GRU military intelligence corps and Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right), a group which previously claimed responsibility for a spate of attacks on the British Jewish community back in April.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “As foreign states increasingly seek to back threats on our streets, we are cracking down on those who try to undermine our country and its security. Iran and Russia’s use of proxy groups to carry out state-backed activity on our soil is reprehensible.
“As I set out today, the IMCR publicly claimed responsibility for seven abhorrent attacks at locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities, and Persian-language media in the UK earlier this year.
“Their malign behaviour, and anyone who acts on their behalf, must be held to account.
“My message to Iran and Russia, and anyone who does their bidding, is clear. We will take all measures necessary to protect the British people, at home and abroad.”
As he spoke to Jewish friends and communal leaders from the Downing Street garden, Keir Starmer said: “A criminal group called the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right has publicly claimed seven attacks at UK locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities, and sitting behind them were members of Iran’s IRGC.
“Of course, the IRGC itself has a long history of using proxies and criminal networks to target people in the UK, including our Jewish communities.
“So today, under our new state threat powers, we’re designating this criminal group, the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, and we’re designating the IRGC.”
Jewish communal organisations, alongside Free Iran activists, have been campaigning for more than a decade for the IRGC to be proscribed in the UK. In 2022, people close to Home Secretary Suella Braverman indicated that such proscription was imminent, but subsequently – widely believed to be due to Foreign Office involvement in the matter – no such move took place. Labour had spoken while in Opposition of its intention to proscribe the IRGC, but did not specifically pledge to do so in its 2024 election manifesto, although it did describe an intention to “take the approach used for dealing with non-state terrorism and adapt it to deal with state-based domestic security threats”. In recent times there had been concerns expressed that the regular proscription method was not well suited to organisations specifically aligned with hostile foreign states.
Last week, however, the National Security (State Threats) Bill received Royal Assent, with the newly passed legislation enabling the government to bring in new proscription-like powers to protect against state threats. The bill comes in the wake of a review from Jonathan Hall KC, Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.
For a body to be designated in such a manner, the Home Secretary has to have a reasonable belief that it is, or has been, involved in foreign power threat activity and must consider that designation is necessary to protect the safety or interests of the United Kingdom.
In a written statement, Home Office minister Angela Eagle said the Home Secretary was satisfied that the statutory test had been met in respect of the three bodies,
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The IRGC is a central component of the Iranian state’s security apparatus, answerable directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader”, she wrote.
“Its role extends far beyond that of a conventional military force. It encompasses intelligence activity, the use of proxy actors, and the projection of influence designed to advance Iranian state objectives.”
A spokesperson for CST said it “welcome[d] the Government’s decision to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR) under the new state threats powers. There is clear evidence linking these groups to activity targeting the Jewish community in the UK, including attacks on Jewish and Israeli-linked sites in recent months. Their involvement in such hostile and antisemitic activity demonstrates why these organisations should be banned and why such robust action is necessary. These important steps send a clear message that those who seek to threaten, intimidate or attack Jewish communities will face the full force of the law.
“CST will continue to work closely with the Government, police and our community partners to help protect the Jewish community and ensure that the threat from terrorism, extremism and hostile state-backed activity is effectively addressed.”
A Jewish Leadership Council spokesperson said: “We are pleased that the Home Secretary will use the National Security (State Threats) Act to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This is a step we have urged successive British governments to take for many years, given the lethal threat the Iranian regime poses to Jewish communities, Israeli nationals and Iranian dissidents in this country. We also welcome the designation of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, the group who have claimed responsibility for the spate of arson attacks targeting synagogues and Jewish charities earlier this year.
“These measures represent an important step towards protecting the communities most at risk from hostile Iranian activity. We will continue to work with the government to ensure that they are robustly enforced, and that the full range of powers available to government are used to disrupt the Iranian regime’s malign influence and keep the British public safe.”
A Spokesperson for the Board of Deputies said: “We welcome the announcement of the Home Secretary that the government will use new powers to proscribe the IRGC, a step we have long campaigned for.
“This will better enable the authorities to protect our community and others from the threats this organisation presents. We also welcome the designation of the “Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right” (HAYI), which has claimed responsibility for attacks on Jewish communities in the UK and elsewhere.
“We call on the government to designate all state backed agencies, whether associated with Iran or other states, that threaten British security. We also call on the authorities to make full use of their powers to enforce the designation to stop these entities promoting or acting on their extremist agendas in the UK.”
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