UK proscribes Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
BBC News 2026-07-13 11:56:18
Context: The UK government has announced that it will proscribe Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a threat to national security, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood using new government powers to ban support for the group. This move comes after the IRGC was linked to death threats and intimidation in the UK. The ban will make it an offence to express a positive opinion of or assist the IRGC, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Key Facts
- The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has announced that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be designated a threat to national security, and support for the group will be banned.
- The ban on support for the IRGC will include expressing a positive opinion of or assisting the group, and will be punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
- Two other groups, the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR) and the volunteer corps of Russia's GRU (foreign military intelligence agency), are also being proscribed.
- The Home Secretary is satisfied that the statutory test is met in respect of the three bodies, and draft regulations for proscription can now be laid before parliament.
- The IRGC is described as a central component of the Iranian state's security apparatus, answerable directly to Iran's Supreme Leader, and its role extends far beyond that of a conventional military force, encompassing intelligence activity, the use of proxy actors, and the projection of influence designed to advance Iranian state objectives.