Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will be officially designated as a threat to the United Kingdom’s national security under new government powers.
The move makes it a criminal offence to support the IRGC in any form, ranging from expressing favourable views about the organisation to providing assistance. Offenders could face prison sentences of up to 14 years.
In a written statement to Parliament, Mahmood confirmed that the new measures would also apply to two other organisations — the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right and the volunteer corps of Russia’s GRU, the country’s foreign military intelligence agency.
The government said the new legislation would strengthen the ability of police and intelligence agencies to combat espionage, foreign interference, sabotage and other hostile activities linked to the three groups.
According to authorities, the IRGC is believed to have orchestrated seven attacks targeting UK locations associated with Jewish and Israeli communities.
Among them was the antisemitic arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green on March 23, an incident publicly claimed by the IMCR.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had pledged in April to fast-track the National Security (State Threats) Act. Draft regulations implementing the new proscription powers are now set to be presented before Parliament.
Announcing the measures, Starmer said: “We will never let Britain be a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets.
“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 Parliament approves the regulations later this week, individuals carrying out acts of sabotage, including arson, on behalf of the designated groups could face life imprisonment.
The revised legal framework will also remove the need for prosecutors to prove a direct foreign state connection in every case, simplifying prosecutions involving state-backed hostile activities.
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.”
Security service MI5 has identified at least 20 potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots against individuals in the UK over the past year, with the IRGC described as a key instrument of the Iranian state, particularly in operations targeting the Jewish community and Iranian dissidents.
Established after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the country’s new political system, the IRGC has evolved into one of the nation’s most powerful institutions, with an estimated 190,000 active personnel and extensive influence beyond Iran’s borders.
Western governments have repeatedly accused the organisation of sponsoring terrorism overseas.
Australia, Canada and the United States have already designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, while the European Union added it to its terror list in January following its alleged role in the violent suppression of anti-government protests.
Although the UK had previously stopped short of taking similar action, the government said growing state-backed threats and the increasing use of proxy groups made stronger legal powers necessary.
In her written statement, Home Office minister Angela Eagle said, “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a central component of the Iranian state’s security apparatus, answerable directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader.
“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.”
