Today marks a major moment in the UK’s fight against terrorism and the threat posed by Iran’s brutal regime, especially to the Jewish community, with the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Banned within days of the new National Security (State Threats) Act becoming law, Labour MP Mark Sewards warmly welcomes this vital step towards countering the Islamic Republic’s malign influence in the UK.
IRGC's Malign Activities in the UK
Through the malevolent hand of the IRGC, Iran’s blood-soaked regime, which suppresses and massacres its own people at home and spreads terror abroad, has been targeting Britain’s Jewish community and Iranian dissenters for years. Labour promised this measure in opposition and delivered it in government.
As the Jewish community in Britain well knows, there’s nothing theoretical about the threat posed by Tehran’s terror army. Last year, MI5 reported they had tracked at least 20 “potentially lethal” plots backed by Tehran in just one year.
Recent Attacks and Designations
The Ayatollahs, through the ruthless and fanatical IRGC, have planned assassinations on British soil, harassed dissidents and critics who sought refuge here, taken UK citizens hostage, and backed armed groups that threaten allies and interests. In recent months, they have been behind a spree of antisemitic attacks on Britain’s Jewish community.
These have included a firebomb attack at Kenton United Synagogue near Harrow, north-west London. It also admitted torching four ambulances in Golders Green and a botched drone attack on the Israeli embassy in west London.
Sewards also welcomes the decision to designate the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR), which has publicly claimed responsibility for these attacks, as well as those on Persian-language media. As the government rightly recognised: “Sitting behind IMCR were members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force, who almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe.”
Legislative Challenges and New Laws
Banning the IRGC was never going to be easy. As an arm of the Iranian regime, it simply wasn’t possible to ban it as a terrorist organisation under existing legislation. Not only does it act on behalf of the regime as the largest exporter of terrorism in the world, but it also operates as a vast business empire, an engineering specialist, and is even a trafficker of illicit drugs. That’s why new laws were needed to go after Tehran’s terror apparatus.
Impact of the Ban
This step is no symbolic gesture. The IRGC was already sanctioned in the UK. But sanctions didn’t cover the IRGC’s strategy to nurture homegrown Islamist extremism here in Britain and identify and sign-up potential new recruits on British soil. Moreover, while sanctions primarily target an organisation or individual’s financial activities, designation has a much wider scope, encompassing membership of, and support for, a terrorist organisation. Equally important, it sends a clear message to the theocratic regime in Iran that terrorism and militancy pursued through the IRGC will not be tolerated.
This is a huge victory for Labour Friends of Israel, who have long called for the designation of the IRGC to recognise the regime’s crimes against humanity and to protect Britons from this threat.
Further Measures Urged
Building on today’s vital step, Sewards urges the government to take further measures to counter Iran’s malign influence in the UK. These include: expelling the Iranian ambassador and the supreme leader’s representative in the UK; identifying and dismantling soft influence networks in the UK that advance the regime’s objectives under the cover of cultural, academic, charitable or media activity; and sanctioning Iranian regime oligarchs, elites and proxies in the UK.
The Islamic Republic is relentless in its efforts to destabilise the UK and will seek other avenues through which to work against us. We must be vigilant and proactive in tackling this clear and present danger to our country, our communities at home, and allies overseas.
