UK Proscribes Iran’s IRGC and Islamic Movement Over Antisemitic Attacks

Key Points

• Britain has formally proscribed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation under new powers, making it a criminal offence to belong to the group, attend its meetings or display its logo in public.
• The government has also designated the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right (IMCR), an Iran-linked group blamed for a string of antisemitic attacks in Britain, including the arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green.
• Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency has separately been designated over alleged sabotage and hostile activity directed against the UK and Europe.
• The move relies on the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026, which received royal assent after being fast-tracked through Parliament.
• Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the powers would make it easier to “prosecute and lock up anyone carrying out their dirty work here in Britain.”
• Security Minister Angela Eagle set out the designations in a written statement to Parliament, citing IRGC-linked threats and intimidation on UK soil.
• Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has previously said “keeping our country and communities safe is the first duty of any government.”
• The IMCR has claimed responsibility for at least seven attacks targeting Jewish and Israeli communities and Persian-language media in Britain.
• Jewish community leaders, including Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and the Board of Deputies, have long campaigned for the IRGC’s proscription.
• Supporting, funding or accepting benefits from either designated group can now carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

London (Britain Today News) July 13, 2026 — Britain’s government on Monday targeted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and another Iran-linked group after a string of antisemitic attacks on British streets, using proscription-style powers designed to tackle state-backed threats. The measure effectively outlaws support for both organisations and hands police and intelligence agencies fresh tools to confront threats connected to them, marking one of the most significant shifts in Britain’s approach to state-sponsored extremism in years.

Why Has Britain Proscribed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps?

The decision follows more than a year of mounting pressure on ministers from Jewish communal organisations, opposition politicians and even some Labour backbenchers to act against the IRGC, an elite Iranian military force that has served the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader since it was founded in the wake of the 1979 revolution. The IRGC, which is already subject to British sanctions, has served as an elite military force loyal to the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader since being established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Under the new powers, the proscription would make it a criminal offence to belong to the group, attend its meetings or carry its logo in public.

Security Minister Angela Eagle confirmed the designation in a written statement to Parliament. Eagle said British authorities had identified IRGC-linked activity involving threats and intimidation on UK soil, with the designation made using powers under the National Security (State Threats) Act.

What Powers Does the National Security (State Threats) Act Grant?

The legislation underpinning Monday’s announcement received royal assent earlier this month after being pushed through Parliament at pace. The National Security (State Threats) Act received royal assent, paving the way for a ban on the IRGC, as recommended by terror laws watchdog Jonathan Hall KC. Under the statute, supporting a designated group, assisting it with UK-related activities, or accepting a material benefit from it can constitute a criminal offence.

Ministers have described the tool as roughly equivalent to the proscription regime long used against groups such as Hamas and al-Qaeda, but adapted for organisations acting on behalf of foreign states rather than purely domestic terrorist outfits. The legislation gives the Home Secretary powers to make it illegal to support groups working on behalf of hostile foreign powers in the UK, including by targeting dissidents and other communities or carrying out cyber attacks on critical national infrastructure. Ministers have made clear that penalties will be severe: supporting, assisting or getting paid by a designated group could mean a punishment of up to 14 years in prison.

What Did Prime Minister Keir Starmer Say About the Designations?

Announcing the move, the Prime Minister framed it as a direct response to attacks orchestrated by Tehran’s proxies on British soil.

“These new powers will make it easier to prosecute and lock up anyone carrying out their dirty work here in Britain,”

Starmer said in a statement.

The announcement caps months of public pledges from Starmer following a wave of incidents targeting the Jewish community. During an earlier visit to a north London synagogue that had been targeted in an arson attack, the Prime Minister said Britain needed to “deal with malign state actors” and confirmed that legislation was being brought forward “as quickly as possible.” He added that he was “very worried” about Iran’s growing use of proxy groups on British streets.

What Is the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right?

Alongside the IRGC, the government designated a lesser-known but increasingly notorious organisation: the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, also referred to by its Arabic name, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia. British officials said the group, also known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, has been linked to a co-ordinated campaign of intimidation against British Jewish and Israeli communities.

According to the government, the group had claimed seven attacks linked to Jewish and Israeli communities and Persian-language media in Britain, including the antisemitic arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green on March 23. That attack, which destroyed vehicles belonging to a volunteer-run Jewish ambulance charity parked outside a synagogue, became a flashpoint in the national debate over antisemitism and Iranian-linked extremism, prompting emergency statements in both the Commons and the Lords in the weeks that followed.

Why Was the Golders Green Ambulance Attack So Significant?

The Golders Green attack was far from an isolated incident. It came amid what MPs described in Parliament as a sustained campaign of intimidation against British Jews, including arson attempts on synagogues in Finchley and Kenton, and the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green in April, an attack that the Metropolitan Police formally declared a terrorist incident. London’s Metropolitan Police on Wednesday evening formally declared the stabbing attack in the heavily Jewish neighbourhood of Golders Green a “terrorist incident.”

The IMCR emerged publicly only months earlier, first surfacing in connection with attacks on Jewish institutions in Belgium and the Netherlands before its activity spread to Britain. The group emerged publicly in March after a series of attacks on Jewish institutions in Belgium and the Netherlands, raising concerns that Iran is ramping up its activation of sleeper cells and proxies recruited online to wage a campaign of retaliation against Western countries.

Why Has Russia’s GRU Also Been Designated?

In a move that broadened the scope of Monday’s announcement beyond Iran, Britain also designated the volunteer corps of Russia’s GRU foreign military intelligence agency. According to the government’s written statement to Parliament, the volunteer corps of Russia’s GRU foreign military intelligence agency is being designated over what the government described as

“sabotage and other activity directed against the UK and Europe.”

The dual designation of an Iranian and a Russian-linked entity in the same announcement underlines how ministers now regard the National Security (State Threats) Act as a flexible tool applicable to a range of hostile state actors, rather than one aimed solely at Tehran. Officials have indicated that further designations targeting other states’ proxy networks could follow as intelligence assessments develop.

How Has the Jewish Community Reacted to the Proscription?

For Jewish communal organisations, Monday’s announcement represents the culmination of a long campaign. Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg had earlier welcomed the government’s pledge to move against the IRGC, saying:

“This is something the Board of Deputies and communal partners have long called for, and these calls have intensified over recent weeks.”

He added that his organisation would

“be engaging with the Government to ensure the requisite actions are taken to keep our community and our country safe from the Iranian and wider Islamist threat.”

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who has repeatedly pressed ministers to act, has described the prevailing mood among British Jews in stark terms. Mirvis said British Jews are “going through exceptionally challenging times” and are “filled with anxiety at this time,” while also stressing that

“we are a strong community, we respond with fortitude and great resilience.”

He has separately warned of the dangers of continuing to delay proscription, describing the threat as one that

“must be examined far more seriously, not only to Jews, but to society as a whole.”

What Has Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood Said?

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has overseen the passage of the National Security (State Threats) Act through the Home Office, has framed the legislation as central to her department’s core mission. Mahmood said:

“Keeping our country and communities safe is the first duty of any government.”

Mahmood’s department has faced criticism over the speed with which the underlying bill was pushed through Parliament. Shadow Home Office minister Alicia Kearns accused the Home Secretary of attempting to rush the legislation through without adequate scrutiny, arguing that new powers to designate organisations “could collapse under legal scrutiny” if not properly tested, while insisting that the Conservatives supported the bill’s underlying intent and had themselves called for the IRGC’s designation.
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What Has the Wider Political Reaction Been?

Reaction across the political spectrum has largely been supportive of Monday’s move, even as some critics argue it has come too late. Former Labour home secretary Lord Blunkett had previously said he was “totally in favour” of proscribing the IRGC, and used the same intervention to call for the Muslim Brotherhood to face similar action. Conservative figures, including former shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel, had accused the government of prolonged “silence” on the IRGC question, while Tory MP Bob Blackman urged ministers to “stop procrastinating” after the European Union agreed to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation earlier this year.

Independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Jonathan Hall KC had recommended the creation of the very proscription-style tool used on Monday, arguing that existing counter-terrorism law was not designed to capture state-backed entities acting through proxies. His recommendations formed the backbone of the National Security (State Threats) Act as it progressed through both Houses of Parliament in recent months.

What Happens Next for Groups and Individuals Linked to the IRGC and IMCR?

With the designations now in force, police and prosecutors gain expanded powers to pursue individuals suspected of supporting either the IRGC or the IMCR, from attending meetings to funding activities linked to the groups. The Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, which has already brought charges against several individuals over the Golders Green ambulance attack, is expected to draw on the new powers as ongoing investigations into Iran-linked plots continue.

Officials have also signalled that the designation of Russia’s GRU volunteer corps will not be the last use of the Act’s provisions, with ministers under continuing pressure from MPs, peers and communal organisations to extend proscription-style measures to other groups deemed to pose a threat to Britain’s national security, including calls from some parliamentarians for the Muslim Brotherhood to be examined under the same framework.

For Britain’s Jewish community, Monday’s designations arrive after more than a year of heightened anxiety, characterised by arson attacks, a stabbing declared a terrorist incident, and repeated warnings from communal leaders that words of condemnation were no longer enough. Whether the new powers translate into a tangible reduction in threats will be closely watched by MPs, security officials and the communities most directly affected in the months ahead.