Labour MPs have urged the government to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in light of the arrest of seven Iranians by counter-terror police.
A total of eight people were detained over the weekend in two separate national security operations carried out by Counter Terrorism Command (CTC).
In the wake of the raid, the prime minister’s spokesperson paid tribute to the police and security services “for their professionalism and expertise in carrying out these operations to keep the country safe.
“We support the police and security agencies in the ongoing work that they're doing”, he added.
However, several MPs from Sir Keir Starmer’s own party are calling on the government to commit to proscribing the IRGC – something it pledged to do in opposition.
Luke Akehurst, Labour MP for North Durham, told the JC that the foiling of the potential terror attack by Iranian nationals added “to the urgent case to proscribe the IRGC”, especially given reports that some of the suspects may have been preparing an attack against a Jewish community site.
“Labour called for proscription when we were in opposition. I urge Ministers to ban this dangerous organisation now," Akehurst went on.
Likewise, Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) chair Jon Pearce MP told the JC: “Tehran’s terror army, the IRGC, poses a clear and present danger to the UK.”
Last month, the group released a report detailing the dangers posed by the IRGC to the UK, including to the Jewish community.
Pearce added: “The IRGC's web of malign influence in the UK, where it is radicalising young people, propagating antisemitism and plotting the murder of dissidents and journalists, must be urgently tackled. The threat to the Jewish community is especially acute.
"The government has rightly repeatedly sanctioned Iran, including placing the entire regime – including the IRGC – on the enhanced tier of the new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.
“We must now give the police, security services and public bodies the additional powers they need to ensure the IRGC is banned and treated just like other terrorist groups. The government’s counter-terrorism review, announced last month, provides the perfect opportunity to do just that."
Asked whether the government had plans to proscribe the IRGC, a Downing Street spokesperson said it had already taken “significant action” in countering the threat posed by Iran.
“We've announced that they'll the whole of the Iranian state will be on the enhanced tier of the new foreign influence registration scheme, including the IRGC and MOIS [Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security],” they explained, adding: “We've asked Jonathan Hall [the government’s Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation] to review whether we can strengthen our powers to tackle state threats, including a new prescription mechanism for state and state linked bodies.
"We are considering new ways to enforce our immigration rules to specifically address threats from Iran, and we have sanctioned more than 450 Iranian individuals and entities, including the IRGC.”
In opposition, Labour had pledged to proscribe the group and, in February 2023, now-foreign secretary David Lammy told Parliament: “We would proscribe the IRGC, either by using existing terrorism legislation or by creating a new process of proscription for hostile state actors.”
In March, the former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove told the JC he was baffled as to why successive governments hadn’t banned the IRGC: “It is the agency through which Iran has conducted what I would call ‘arm’s length warfare’. The Quds Force is part of the IRGC, and they've made an absolute fundamental aspect of Iranian policy using this agency to destabilise and interfere in the affairs of other countries.”
He also warned of a specific threat posed by Iran to British Jews: “There is a threat, there is a problem … whether it's the inspiration of radicals who are going to attack the Jewish community, or whether it's organising demonstrations which intimidate the Jewish community and encouraging those”.
