More than 200 MPs have united across parties to demand that the government proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – the armed wing of the Khameini regime.
The corps has been accused of orchestrating assassinations of dissidents and terror attacks in foreign countries, but is yet to be classified as a terrorist organisation in the UK.
In opposition, Labour pledged to ban the group but, since winning the election last year, ministers have seemingly dragged their feet over the move.
Now, though, a new proscription push has been sparked by the announcement that three Iranian nationals – Farhad Javadi Manesh, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori and Mostafa Sepahvand – would be charged under national security laws after allegedly spying on behalf of Iran.
The trio, who allegedly came to the UK as asylum seekers, stand accused of feeding information back to Tehran and being involved in a plot to carry out “serious violence” against journalists from a UK-based Iranian news channel that has criticised the regime there.
In response, 230 MPs and a further 330 members of the House of Lords have backed a cross-party resolution organised by The British Committee for Iran Freedom.
The petition cites the IRGC’s alleged involvement in global terrorism, as well as its role in repressing dissent at home. The committee cited the example of the crushing of protests following the murder of Mahsa Amini, allegedly at the hands of Iran’s morality police, which saw around 185 demonstrators killed, according to the Iran Human Rights NGO.
High-profile signatories include former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, ex-attorney general Lord Goldsmith and 1922 Committee chair Bob Blackman.
Blackman said: “I don’t know how much more evidence the government needs to go forward with proscription and the seizure of assets.”
However, according to The Times, previous attempts at proscription have been resisted by the Foreign Office, with officials emphasising the importance of keeping potential intelligence channels open.
There is also a practical hurdle in the form of how to proscribe a government agency, which could make any legal or financial interaction with it effectively a breach of the Terrorism Act.
A full review is being conducted by Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s independent reviewer of terror legislation, with findings due to be published this week.
A government spokesperson said: “The home secretary has said that we must strengthen our powers to protect our national security as we will not tolerate growing state threats on our soil.
“The government continues to take strong action and hold the Iranian regime to account, sanctioning more than 450 Iranian individuals and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, as well as placing Iran on the enhanced tier of the new foreign influence registration scheme.”
