Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is the most widely known of three state-backed security threats which the British government will now ban.
Also set to be proscribed are the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR) and the volunteer corps of Russia’s GRU (its foreign military intelligence agency).
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood made a written statement to Parliament, stating that support for the IRGC—from expressing a positive opinion to rendering practical assistance—will now be a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison:
Iran and Russia are using proxies and thugs to do their dirty work on our shores.
I have rapidly designated three groups so those working for them will be tracked down and put behind bars.
Police and intelligence agencies will get new powers, supposedly designed to tackle espionage, foreign interference, sabotage, and physical attacks.
Iran’s IRGC is believed to have directed seven attacks within the UK at locations linked to Israel and the Jewish community. The IMCR claimed responsibility for the antisemitic arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green on March 23rd.
