UK designates Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation under fast-tracked state-threats powers

The British government on Monday proscribed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, deploying extraordinary new powers that treat state actors like non-state terror groups. The move also outlaws the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right (IMCR) and the volunteer corps of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told Parliament that expressing a positive opinion of the IRGC, assisting it or promoting its symbols will now be a criminal offence, with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Seven attacks on Jewish and dissident targets

Security Minister Angela Eagle said the IMCR had claimed responsibility for seven arson and vandalism attacks on sites linked to Jewish communities, Israeli organisations and Iranian dissidents in the United Kingdom.

Sitting behind IMCR were members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force, who almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe.

The government separately noted a plot to assassinate two journalists at the London-based Iran International television channel and cyber-attacks on British targets. The designation follows years of pressure from Tehran’s opponents and after the EU took the same step in February.

Starmer’s parting legislative blitz

Parliament returns to approve the proscription later this week, but the legal framework was already rushed through in a single week. The National Security (State Threats) Act received royal assent only on Wednesday last week, creating a pathway for ministers to designate hostile state organs alongside non-state terror groups. Anyone involved in an act of sabotage on behalf of a designated body could face life imprisonment.

We will never let Britain be a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets.

Starmer hands over power to Andy Burnham next Monday, making the move a signature departure act. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper pointed directly at Moscow and Tehran.

My message to Iran, to Russia and to anyone acting on their instructions is clear: we will take all necessary measures to protect the British people, both at home and abroad.

A shift that brings the UK in line with the EU

Until now, successive British governments had resisted full proscription of the IRGC, arguing that existing anti-terror laws could not cope with state adversaries. The IRGC was already under heavy sanctions, but today’s step criminalises any kind of support inside Britain, from wearing its logo to attending its gatherings. The IMCR, also known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, emerged as a proxy, using propaganda channels linked to Iran to claim its London attacks.

What happens next

Parliament must greenlight the three designations, a formality expected before the weekend. The diplomatic fallout is immediate: officials have previously warned that listing the IRGC could prompt Tehran to expel the British ambassador. The legislation also covers the GRU’s volunteer corps, an international branch of Russia’s main intelligence service, whose core units are already sanctioned.