Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has urged the prime minister to ban Iran’s brutal Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The move follows a letter from more than 100 parliamentarians calling on the government to accelerate the proscription of the IRGC.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Hall said: “My recommendation was not for several years away. It was an immediate recommendation. It is up to the Government how important it thinks the recommendation is compared with other legislation but I was making a recommendation based on a genuine need.”
MPs and peers from across the political spectrum are among the signatories of the letter demanding that legislation is brought forward to ban the group “in its entirety without delay”.
They include Reform leader Nigel Farage, Conservative MP and former security minister Tom Tugendhat and Labour’s Baroness Berger and Lord Glasman along with MP Damien Egan.
It comes after the IRGC’s bloody crackdown on protest in Iran, with reports of thousands of demonstrators killed by the regime.
There is now mounting pressure on the government to bring forward planned changes to the National Security Act to allow state-sponsored groups to be proscribed.
In a report Hall proposes targeting those who support and provide help for the IRGC rather than membership, with a maximum jail sentence of 14 years, and a new criminal offence of inviting support for state agencies such as the IRGC or displaying their flags or insignia.
Following the EU ban on the group, Hall said the UK needed to step up and send the requisite message to Iran. “What’s frustrating here is that the Government hasn’t got the option of doing that unless it brings forth new laws,” he said.
The letter from MPs and peers to Sir Keir Starmer says: “The UK must not be a permissive environment for foreign backed extremism or state intimidation.”
The intervention follows an announcement that the group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union on Thursday.
The letter says: “Any delay in action from the UK risks leaving us out of sync with our closest allies.
“We therefore reiterate our call for the government to ensure that the forthcoming legislation recommended by Jonathan Hall KC is brought forward and expedited so that the IRGC can be proscribed in its entirety without delay.
“Proscription would send a clear and necessary message: that the UK will not tolerate terrorism, antisemitism, or state directed violence, and that we stand with the people of Iran who are bravely fighting for democracy.”
Earlier, the Home Office had confirmed it would introduce the previously announced legislation but a government source told the JC on Friday there had been no official change to bring it forward, adding: “We’ve been saying this for ages”.
Lord Walney, former UK Independent Advisor on Political Violence and Disruption, said: “There is no excuse for more foot-dragging in the face of this Islamist terror enterprise. The IRGC pose an immediate danger on British streets, they should be proscribed without delay.”
Kasra Aarabi, Director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, said: “The so-called technical legal excuse is just that – an excuse. The IRGC clearly meets the threshold for proscription in the UK, but taking this step requires political will, which is currently absent in Keir Starmer’s government. The failure to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation is putting British lives and national security at risk.
“The IRGC is actively plotting terrorism on British streets, with more than 20 IRGC-linked plots foiled since 2022. It is also using the same tactics as ISIS and al-Qaeda to nurture homegrown Islamist radicalisation and terrorism in the UK. Unlike ISIS and al-Qaeda – both proscribed organisations – the UK’s current sanctions regime does not prevent the IRGC from disseminating jihadist propaganda or engaging in radicalisation activities.
“This is why proscription matters. It is not merely symbolic, as some in Whitehall suggest, but would have real and practical consequences for the IRGC’s ability to operate in Britain.”
Jewish communal groups have repeatedly called for the IRGC to be banned. A spokesperson for the Jewish Leadership Council said: “This is a step we have been urging successive British governments to take for many years, given the lethal threat the Iranian regime poses to Jewish communities worldwide.”
Urging the UK government to move faster, the JLC added: "In response to the EU’s action, we have read reports that the legislation will not be expedited. That is not good enough.
“The time for inaction is over. Urgency must be shown to ensure our national security and to send a clear message to the regime in Tehran. The government must bring forward this legislation immediately, and use this power to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
Labour has pledged to proscribe the group since its time in opposition, but has yet to do so in government, arguing that its status as a state-affiliated military force, rather than a non-state actor like Hamas or Hezbollah, complicates the legal process.
Officials are now preparing to introduce legislation allowing ministers to restrict the operations of such groups in Britain.
The government has said since May that it is looking to introduce a new system, akin to proscription, which could be applied to state organisations, with then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper specifically referring to the IRGC at the time.
Current proscription powers are designed for non-state terrorist organisations, not state bodies. New powers would be required to ban the IRGC, which acts as a military guard for Iran’s ayatollah and operates separately from the regular army.
Vahid Beheshti , Director of Iranian Front for the Revival of Law and National Sovereignty, has campaigned for IRGC proscription from his tent encampment outside the Foreign Office for almost three years. He said: “It is hard to fathom why the UK has taken so long to come to terms with the fact that the IRGC is a terror enterprise responsible for violence against Iranians, bloodshed across the Middle East and kidnapping and assassination plots in the UK. How will the UK look the people of Iran in the eye during their hour of greatest need when even today they continue to drag their feet and won’t proscribe the IRGC immediately.”
The government has placed the entire Iranian state, including the IRGC, on the enhanced tier of the new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, designed to increase transparency around Iranian influence activity in the UK.
In addition, new training has been announced for frontline police officers across all police forces on state threats which is aimed at improving the identification of state-directed crimes and strengthening the ability of officers to escalate and mitigate such activity.
A government spokesperson said: “The government has already sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety, as well as more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities, and set out a robust package of measures to tackle threats from the Iranian regime.
“We utterly condemn the terrible violence being used by the Iranian regime against those exercising their right to peaceful protest.”
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