Exclusive: Jerusalem urges Britain to ban IRGC amid terror warnings

The calls come amid warnings from security experts about the militia’s activities on British soil and the fear of an Iran-sponsored terror attack, along with concern over the danger posed by Iran to UK interests abroad.

This week one expert warned there was a “significant threat” to Jews and Iranian dissidents in the UK from the IRGC.

An Israeli official told the JC: “The terrorist regime in Iran has been working for decades to undermine stability in the Middle East, in the UK, and around the world.

“This past January provided yet another example, when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, together with regime forces inside Iran, violently suppressed popular protests and massacred tens of thousands of their own people.

“Many countries have already recognised this reality, including the European Union, and have designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation that violates human rights and poses a credible threat on UK soil.

“It is long overdue for the UK, where human rights are a central pillar of its policy, to take this crucial step and proscribe the IRGC, a vicious entity, as a terrorist organisation without further delay.”

The Labour government faces growing pressure over its failure to deliver on a manifesto pledge to ban the group.

Ministers have instead backed a proposed “hybrid” approach, put forward by Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, which would introduce new powers to target state-linked organisations such as the IRGC, but no timetable has been set.

MPs from across the house have called on the government to act now.

Mark Sewards, chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) and MP for Leeds, told the JC: “Iran’s terror army, the IRGC, has seized power in Iran and put a strangle-hold on the Strait of Hormuz, they orchestrate Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel, and they relentlessly target our allies across the region.

“The UK can take a powerful stand by setting out in the King’s Speech the creation of new powers to proscribe state-backed groups like the IRGC once and for all.”

Security figures have echoed those concerns.

Roger Macmillan, former director of security at Iran International, said: “The fact that Israel is now calling for the proscription of the IRGC is alarming, that a foreign state is actually pleading with us now to do it.

“We should just get on with it.”

Macmillan, who authored an LFI briefing last month calling for proscription, suggested ministers already had viable options available.

He said: “In my policy document, I gave the government a ‘get out of jail free card’ to proscribe just the military element of the IRGC, the Quds Force, who prosecute and conduct activities extraterritorially. In other words, that can be in the UK too.

“Why they haven’t done this is absolutely beyond me. It was in their manifesto, many politicians I have spoken to are in favour of this, and yet the government has not.”

The IRGC is Iran’s primary exporter of terrorism and operates as a powerful military force loyal to the supreme leader.

It was proscribed in the US in 2019 and, in response to Tehran’s deadly crackdown on protests in January, also by the EU.

The Global Terrorism Index has linked the Revolutionary Guards to 157 plots across 15 countries over the past five years, and it has long been suspected of operating on UK soil.

Last month, two men were charged with assisting Iran’s intelligence services by spying on sites linked to the Jewish community in London. In October, the director of MI5 said more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots had been foiled in the past year.

Macmillan said the IRGC’s overseas operations “pose a significant threat” to the UK, including Iranian dissidents and Jewish communities.

The IRGC has consolidated power in Iran in recent months.

Kasra Aarabi, the director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, warned that war and the regime’s current leadership have accelerated the regime’s plan to “fully militarise the Islamist theocracy”.

“But while the regime has been significantly weakened [by US and Israeli operations], it remains extremely dangerous and constitutes a major threat, not least to Britain’s national security.”

Aarabi believes the IRGC will “increasingly turn to its asymmetric capabilities to target the West, especially Europe. The Labour government appears to be asleep at the wheel in the face of this escalating threat.

“Proscribing the IRGC would impose maximum constraints on its ability to operate in the UK – not least by addressing its homegrown radicalisation activities, which are not currently covered by the UK’s sanctions regime.”

Despite the regime’s record of brutality against its own citizens, this week the UK backed Iran’s nomination to a UN committee responsible for monitoring human rights.

Macmillan said: “It is staggering that the UK could even contemplate putting a country such as Iran on a human rights committee. This is a country that has committed tens of thousands of murders of their own people.”

The Conservatives, Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats have all supported an IRGC ban.

Former Tory security minister, Tom Tugendhat, has repeatedly called for proscription, saying that his party should have gone ahead with the ban when it was in government.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith appealed to the prime minister to ban the IRGC, saying, “We are now at war with Iran whether we like it or not”.

Responding last month, Starmer said: “He knows we have sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety... The existing proscription powers are not designed for a state organisation but we do keep this under review, as did the last government.”

In their meeting with the Foreign Secretary, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies called for robust action over the threat from Iran. They reiterated that Iranian groups have been “directly involved in targeting Jewish locations in the UK” and asked Yvette Cooper to urgently ban the IRGC.   

In their discussion the Jewish leaders also questioned the Foreign Secretary on the UK’s role in the nomination of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Programme and Coordination.

They said: “Discussing the UK’s role in combatting antisemitism internationally, we made clear our dismay at the decision to downgrade the UK’s position on Item 7 at the UN.”

The communal representatives called on Cooper to "engage constructively on the conflict in Lebanon and to not lose sight of the considerable threat Hezbollah continues to pose to our friends and family in Israel”.

They added that they were "pleased to hear the Foreign Secretary has been giving encouragement to the US-led Israel and Lebanon talks”.

The JLC and Board also asked the Foreign Secretary about the role of the Palestinian Authority in incitement within the school curriculum and payments to the families of terrorists.

“With the ceasefire holding in Gaza, we shared our desire to see the disarmament of Hamas and an improvement in relations between the UK and Israel, which we believe will benefit the citizens of both countries,” they added.

Responding to the JC, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We take the threat posed by Iran incredibly seriously, and our first priority is protecting British interests and lives.

“We have introduced a comprehensive set of additional measures aimed at countering threats posed by the Iranian regime, including sanctioning the IRGC in its entirety, as well as more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities.

“Current proscription powers are designed for non-state terror organisations, not state organisations. We will legislate to introduce a proscription-like power to address the threat of hostile activity posed by state and state-linked bodies.”