A group of Anglo-Iranian women has called on the UK Government to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, amid a violent crackdown on protests in Iran. Demonstrators gathered outside Downing Street in central London to demand action against the elite armed forces group, which has been heavily sanctioned in recent years.
Dozens of people have been killed and thousands detained as the Iranian state deploys the IRGC to suppress mass protests in Tehran and other cities. Laila Jazayeri, director of the Association of Anglo-Iranian Women in the UK, said the IRGC had already gone too far. Speaking at the demonstration on Sunday, she told the Press Association: “The Prime Minister should prescribe the deadly force IRGC, that is killing people inside Iran.”
Ms Jazayeri emphasised that military intervention was unnecessary, stating: “There is no need for military intervention. There is no need for boots on the ground. The protesters are empty-handed. They are dealing with heavily armed security forces in some towns and cities. But the regime hasn’t been able to send the protesters back home. Why? Because there is a network of resistance.”
Most information emerging from Iran comes via Starlink satellite transmitters after the regime restricted internet access. Ms Jazayeri urged the UK Government to help restore connectivity, saying: “The regime has shut down the internet to kill in silence. (The UK Government) should help get access to internet for the Iranian people.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, asked about the possibility of banning the IRGC, told Sky News: “It’s a very thorough process that the Home Secretary would go through in determining whether to proscribe an organisation… I’m not going to second-guess the decisions of the Home Secretary on a matter as significant as this. She will follow due process and won’t leave any stone unturned in looking at all the information that is available to her.”
Later on Sunday, a separate group of around 1,000 protesters gathered on Whitehall calling for “Iranian freedom” before marching to the Iranian embassy. Social media footage appeared to show a man tearing down the flag from the embassy’s balcony – the second such incident in two days. Scotland Yard said two arrests had been made over Saturday’s incident, one for aggravated trespass and assault on an emergency worker, and one for aggravated trespass.
