A Green Party motion to oppose the government’s proscription of the IRGC could be deliberated in the party’s Autumn conference, it has emerged.
Put forward by Green activist and academic Ashok Kumar, the motion also calls for “diplomatic normalisation” with Tehran and the lifting of Western sanctions.
The government is currently taking steps to proscribe the IRGC, with former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer first announcing the long-awaited decision to the JC in April.
Earlier this month, in what was one of his last acts as prime minister, Starmer backed a new national security act to allow those showing support for the military group to receive “the full force of the law”.
But the Green motion, as reported by The Times, aims to challenge that and states that the party should oppose “the proscription or designation of Iranian state institutions, including the IRGC,” claiming that the measures are “counterproductive, undermine diplomacy, close channels for engagement and reduce opportunities for mediation and peacebuilding”.
Kumar, who is also an associate professor of politics at the University of London, also reportedly wrote in 2024: “Nothing the IRGC have done could even remotely be described as terrorism, yet flaccid Labour feels compelled to take the most hawkish positions.”
And, citing the Conservatives' previous decision not to proscribe the group, he added: “Labour are making the Tories look reasonable.”
Kumar has a history of provocative social media posts focusing on Israel and the Gaza conflict.
According to The Times, on October 7, 2023, he posted images of the site of Nova music festival massacre on X, writing: “Sometimes partying on stolen land next to a concentration camp where a million people are starved has consequences.”
A rival motion which backs the sanctions, put forward by human rights activist and British-Iranian poet Raeeka Yassaie, read: “I cannot support [Kumar’s] motion as an Iranian… we cannot normalise human rights violations anywhere. We need a consistent moral compass.”
A spokesperson for the Green Party told The Times: “Conference is still months away and although members have started to submit motions, not everything submitted ends up being discussed.”
The JC has contacted Kumar for comment.
To get more Politics news, click here to sign up for our free politics newsletter.