Canberra moves to ban the IRGC – now Starmer must follow

And yet the IRGC’s footprint in Britain is far greater than in any other nation in the West. Since 2022, the UK has foiled at least 20 terrorist plots linked to Iran’s regime. The IRGC has drawn up lists of British-Jewish targets for assassination, and its operatives even used small boats to cross the Channel to plot terror against the Israeli embassy in London. But it doesn’t stop there. The IRGC is using same methods as ISIS and Al-Qaeda to nurture homegrown Islamist radicalisation and antisemitism in the UK, operating through a network of infiltration centres and mosques that continue to function in Britain in broad daylight.

No, I’m not exaggerating. There are plenty of examples – and the authorities are aware. The failure to act is no longer a matter of ignorance, but of wilful neglect.

After all, Keir Starmer pledged to proscribe the IRGC prior to entering Number 10. And while the Labour government has been particularly absent in confronting national-security threats posed by Islamist extremists and antisemites, it is not solely to blame.

Let’s not forget that Rishi Sunak also indicated support for proscribing the IRGC prior to assuming the Conservative Party leadership. Yet, when a British-Iranian journalist (who happens to be my best friend) was stabbed four times in Wimbledon in an Iranian regime-proxy attack, his government claimed doing so was “not in Britain’s interests.”

In other words, both mainstream parties have failed on this issue. But what if I told you the problem didn’t lie with our elected politicians?

In fact, parliamentarians and even government officials (privately) acknowledge not only the rising threat posed by Tehran’s terror army, but also that the UK has been far too lenient in countering it.

Unfortunately, however – just as with inaction on issues ranging from small boats to weekly hate marches – elected politicians are being overridden by unelected bureaucrats.

This is not a “deep state” conspiracy. Yet it is no secret that unelected bureaucrats in Whitehall have dissuaded – and even blocked – successive attempts to proscribe the IRGC. The refusal stems from a pompous naivete and selective hearing that pervades much of the intellectual class in Whitehall. In many ways, the sentiment mirrors how the BBC refuses to label Hamas a terrorist group – only here, the naivete threatens British lives, not just minds.

Of course, the official line is that proscribing the IRGC would be merely symbolic, with no practical impact. But this is complete nonsense.

Designating the IRGC as a terrorist group would impose maximum constraints on its ability to operate in the UK. Existing UK sanctions do not prevent the IRGC from spreading jihadi propaganda, facilitating homegrown Islamist radicalisation, or nurturing Nazi-like antisemitism. Proscription would change this. It would also equip local communities – from police officers to schoolteachers – with the tools to identify, refer and prevent IRGC and Shia Islamist radicalisation. Currently, the UK’s Prevent programme is exclusively focused on Sunni Islamist extremism, meaning the IRGC’s efforts are a blind spot.

But where does this all end? As the government continues to fail in taking a stance against Iran’s regime, the IRGC is actively plotting terror in Britain, while its British Islamist supporters roam the streets week after week, openly displaying support for the Ayatollah and his antisemitism.

Having digested this sober reality, there are only two options: either Starmer overrides Whitehall, proscribes the IRGC, and takes a robust stance against the Ayatollah or Tehran’s terror will find its way onto Britian’s streets (in many ways, it is already here).

The US, Canada and Australia clearly recognise the imminent threat posed by the IRGC – they have taken decisive action to constrain its operations and protect their citizens. If our strongest security allies can act, Starmer has no excuse to stand by while Tehran’s terror spreads on Britain’s streets.

Kasra Aarabi is the director for IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran and a British-Iranian expert on Iran’s military-security apparatus