Jewish group welcomes UK move to proscribe Iran’s IRGC

The Board of Deputies of British Jews welcomed the U.K. government’s announcement on Monday that it will use new powers to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a move the group said it has long advocated.

The statement followed remarks by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood indicating the government’s intent to move forward with the designation.

Philip Rosenberg, the organization’s president, wrote that the action “will better enable the authorities to protect our community and others from the threats this organisation presents.”

Mahmood said the IRGC will be formally designated as a national-security threat, with new powers making support for the group a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The measures would outlaw activities ranging from expressing support to providing assistance.

The government also plans to proscribe two additional groups, the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right and a volunteer corps linked to Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, while granting expanded powers to law enforcement to counter espionage, sabotage and foreign interference.

“We also welcome the designation of the ‘Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right’ (HAYI), which has claimed responsibility for attacks on Jewish communities in the U.K. and elsewhere,” Rosenberg said, adding that the Board of Deputies is calling on London “to designate all state-backed agencies, whether associated with Iran or other states, that threaten British security.”

The statement concluded that “we also call on the authorities to make full use of their powers to enforce the designation to stop these entities promoting or acting on their extremist agendas in the U.K.”

British authorities believe the IRGC has been linked to several plots in the U.K., including attacks targeting Jewish and Israeli-linked sites.

Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the measures are part of broader efforts to prevent hostile states from carrying out violence and intimidation on British soil.