UK MPs demand announcing IRGC terrorist group

As Iran-backed protests continue to flame unrest in the UK, 70 lawmakers have again urged PM Rishi Sunak to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

The debate as to whether or not to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as terrorist, like the US has done, has been a cause of bitter divide in the British parliament, as elsewhere. Iranians in the UK have also long joined the calls.

While individuals and entities related to the IRGC have been issued with sanctions from the UK and nations including Canada, the US and European Union member states, lawmakers say it does not go far enough.

According to The Telegraph, the letter has been signed by Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as Tory grandees Sir Iain Duncan Smith, David Davis and Liam Fox and ex-head of the Army Lord Dannatt.

The group claims there is a “compelling and indisputable” case for proscribing the group to keep the UK and its citizens safe. The US proscribed the IRGC in 2019.

In a statement the group cited Scotland Yard’s claims that Iran has made at least 15 attempts since the start of 2022 to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based “enemies”. Additionally, they pointed out that Ken McCallum, the director general of MI5, has also warned that Tehran is a direct threat to the UK “through its aggressive intelligence services”.

The Telegraph reported that in their statement, the parliamentarians argue that the group’s role in providing terrorists with weapons, training and financial support, as well as “fomenting violence and conflict” in the region, is “undeniable”.