Following a firm commitment by the Labour party in opposition to ban the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, I am proud the government took this crucial and historic step in June. While it should never have taken this long, the Labour government had the courage to act where others did not – and not a moment too soon. The series of outrageous direct attacks against the Jewish community earlier this year orchestrated by the Islamic Republic demonstrates what a climate of impunity leads to – brazen threats to civilian life.
Hostile states like Iran – and its partner in crime, Russia – have become experts in sniffing out every gap and loophole in our institutions, which they mercilessly exploit. The IRGC’s designation under changes to the National Security Act (NSA) closes a number of these gaps. Designation serves multiple strategic objectives: it constrains IRGC UK operations, provides law enforcement enhanced disruption tools, signals British resolve to allies and adversaries, and demonstrates solidarity with Iranians in their struggle against tyranny that must ultimately lead to regime change.
IRGC members cannot be active in any respect in the UK, including attending or speaking at meetings. It is now a criminal offence for anyone in the UK to associate with the IRGC, profess support for it, share any materials created by the IRGC or attend any meetings with IRGC representatives. No one can say we haven’t made progress.
Stephen Pollard’s frustration at the manner in which Britain’s freedoms are exploited by supporters of a regime which callously denies the rights to free expression, protest and much more to its own citizens is absolutely understandable. We all share it. That’s why, as LFI has previously argued, the sickening, antisemitic Al Quds Day parade should be permanently banned.
But designating the IRGC is not a panacea for the full breadth of Iranian threats facing the UK, and those of us who have long advocated for it never claimed it would be.
The regime’s web of malign influence in the UK extends to the charitable and non-profit sector: a recent report by Lord Walney has identified at least 30 UK-based charities used to spread Khomeinist ideology, foster antisemitism, and conduct transnational repression. While the Charity Commission is acting against some of these entities, it does not have sufficient powers to tackle Tehran’s extensive network of soft-power influence. The government is right to explore strengthening the Commission’s powers to seal off efforts by Iran and other hostile states from abusing this vital sector.
But we must do much more, including conducting a thorough review of links between Iran and the charitable and NGO sector akin to previous reviews of espionage and abuse carried out with regards to China. To ensure this is a focus across government, we should establish a cross-departmental task force to tackle the Iranian domestic threat and this should include imposing sanctions against Press TV, Tasnim News, Fars News and other platforms linked to the Iranian regime. We should identify and sanction Iranian regime oligarchs, elites and proxies in the UK, including expelling the supreme leader’s representative in the UK.
There is also a wider challenge we must meet: the government should adopt a new counter-extremism strategy to address the culture of impunity surrounding “hateful extremism” identified by the Commission for Countering Extremism in 2021. We should follow the lead of Australia’s Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Act and introduce a new legal framework to allow organisations to be designated as “prohibited hate groups” with a range of accompanying offences. And, while the government’s measures to prevent extremists entering the country are commendable, we should create an aggravated offence for “hate preachers” – religious, spiritual or other leaders who advocate or threaten violence.
Russia and Iran know that our liberal democracy is our greatest strength as well as our greatest weakness, and will continue to inject their malign ideologies and propaganda into British society through every possible opening. They are seeking to dissemble the western alliance from within.
While designating the IRGC is a crucial blow to the regime’s influence efforts in the UK, we now need to go much further, much faster to protect our communities and our democracy.
Dr Matthew Godwin is director of research at LFI
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