The UK government has announced that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be officially designated as a national security threat under new powers aimed at tackling foreign interference and state-backed attacks.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the new measures will make it a criminal offence to support the IRGC in any form, including promoting or assisting the group. Offenders could face up to 14 years in prison if found guilty.
The government also announced the proscription of two other groups—the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR) and a volunteer corps linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU).
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the new laws are intended to protect the UK from foreign-backed violence, intimidation and espionage, stressing that Britain would not tolerate hostile states using proxy groups to threaten public safety.
According to UK authorities, the IRGC has been linked to several alleged plots targeting Jewish and Israeli communities, as well as Iranian dissidents living in Britain. Security agency MI5 said it identified at least 20 suspected Iranian-backed threats in the UK over the past year.
If Parliament approves the measures, police and intelligence agencies will receive expanded powers to investigate and prosecute individuals involved in espionage, sabotage, foreign interference and attacks carried out on behalf of the banned groups.
The IRGC, established after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, has long been accused by Western countries of supporting militant groups and carrying out operations beyond Iran’s borders. It is already designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including the United States, Canada and Australia, while the European Union added the group to its terror list earlier this year.
