U.S. lawmakers are urging the United Kingdom to formally designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization as the British government advances new legislation targeting hostile foreign-state activity and proxy groups.
In a letter sent on Tuesday to British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, a bipartisan group of 20 members of Congress called on London to “fast-track legislation proscribing the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.” The effort was led by Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.).
The lawmakers urged Britain to join “the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia in applying maximum pressure on the IRGC in the wake of its long history of terrorism, and its brutal repression of the Iranian people.”
“Every day the British Parliament fails to vote on this legislation is another day that the IRGC evades the full impact of our nations’ combined sanctions,” the letter states.
Lawler added that “the United Kingdom should move without further delay to formally proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization and stand in solidarity with the thousands of innocent Iranians who have risked and, in many cases, lost their lives in pursuit of freedom.”
The American Jewish Committee welcomed the congressional initiative, saying it has long called for governments to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
“With antisemitic attacks in the UK reaching alarming levels, the British government must act now against the IRGC,” the group stated.
The push comes as King Charles III, during Wednesday’s State Opening of Parliament, outlined the Labour government’s legislative agenda, including the proposed Tackling State Threats Bill. The measure would give British authorities expanded powers to combat hostile foreign-state actors and their proxies.
“My government will take urgent action to tackle antisemitism and ensure all communities feel safe,” the king said in the speech, which is written by the government and delivered ceremonially by the monarch. He added that the government would introduce legislation “to tackle the growing threat from foreign state entities and their proxies.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last month that legislation to ban the IRGC would be introduced this summer, a move welcomed by the European Jewish Congress.
“We have long called for the IRGC to be designated as a terrorist organization,” the EJC stated. “Ensuring that the UK has the appropriate legal tools to address state-backed threats is essential.”
