The United Kingdom government is moving to designate three groups, including Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, as state threats, in what officials describe as a step to protect the safety and interests of the country. The action was set out in a written ministerial statement, with the government laying draft regulations before Parliament to bring the designations into effect.
The measure targets a specific set of organisations. According to the government, the regulations would designate two Iranian groups, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is described as the hardline military arm of the Iranian regime, and a group the government named as the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, along with a Russian group known as the GRU Volunteer Corps, which the government links to Russia's military intelligence agency and describes as responsible for foreign intelligence collection and hostile covert operations inside the UK. Grouping the three together signals that the authorities are treating both Iranian and Russian networks as a direct threat to be acted upon.
The route the government has chosen is a notable one. According to officials, this is not proscription in the traditional sense of banning a terrorist organisation, but rather designation as a state threat under new powers introduced earlier this year. Those handling the matter say the mechanism is different from a conventional terror ban but is expected to achieve broadly similar results in practice.
In practical terms, the designation carries real legal consequences for supporters. According to the government, once the groups are designated it would become a criminal offence to carry out activities such as expressing support for them or distributing material on their behalf, extending the reach of the law to those who assist or promote the organisations rather than only those directing them.
Officials have also set out part of the reasoning behind the timing. According to the statement, some of the Iranian groups have been linked to attacks on Jewish communities in the UK, which the government has cited as one of the reasons action needs to be taken. The move was set out in a written ministerial statement from the Home Office, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed it directly while hosting a reception in Downing Street for the Jewish community. Alongside the designation, the Foreign Office is preparing to summon the Iranian ambassador to press the government's concerns in the strongest possible terms.
Setting out the thinking behind the step, the Prime Minister linked it directly to the threats facing communities in Britain. According to Starmer, some of the violence and intimidation seen in the country is coming from foreign states, and the government is designating the Revolutionary Guard Corps alongside the other named Iranian group. He said the practical effect is that anyone found supporting or assisting these groups will now face up to 14 years in prison, describing that as the material impact of the change being made.
The government also pointed to specific incidents to justify targeting the newly named Iranian group. According to Starmer, the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right has publicly claimed seven attacks at UK locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities, with members of Iran's IRGC Quds Force said to be behind them, and he cited ambulance attacks in the Golders Green area of London as an example. He added that the Revolutionary Guard Corps itself has a long history of using proxies and criminal networks to target people in the UK, including its Jewish communities, in a pattern seen over the past nine to twelve months.
The step follows sustained political pressure. According to the account, there had for some time been calls from across the political spectrum to ban the Revolutionary Guard Corps outright, and while the government has taken a slightly different path through designation, it is presented as reaching a comparable outcome. Earlier plans had envisaged designating a wider set of groups acting as proxies for hostile states such as Russia, Iran and China.
Those earlier plans also pointed to tough penalties for individuals working on behalf of such groups. Under the framework promised previously, anyone carrying out activities such as assassination attempts, surveillance or sabotage for a designated organisation could face up to 14 years in prison. Taken together with the latest designations, the measures reflect a hardening of the United Kingdom's stance toward foreign interference and the networks accused of carrying it out on its soil.