UK Moves to Designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards as National Security Threat

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a threat to British national security, along with two other groups, although the designation still requires parliamentary approval, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced plans to designate Iran's IRGC as a threat to UK national security. (Photo: Hassan Gholapmpour, Tasnim News Agency)

The UK government has laid draft regulations before Parliament to designate the IRGC, the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Volunteer Corps.

If Parliament approves the measure, membership in the designated organizations could carry severe criminal penalties, including life imprisonment in certain cases.

Speaking to members of the Jewish community at Downing Street, Starmer said the IRGC has "a long history of using proxies and criminal networks to target people in the UK."

His guests included Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. Starmer said: "A criminal group called the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right have publicly claimed seven attacks at UK locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities, and sitting behind them were members of Iran's IRGC."

He added: "The IRGC itself has a long history of using proxies and criminal networks to target people in the UK, including our Jewish communities."