UK proscribes Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation

The Home Office and the government have moved to formally proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) under the UK’s terrorism legislation.

The move means that IRGC-related activity in the UK can be treated as terrorism offences, including belonging to or supporting the proscribed organisation. It also extends to conduct that involves inviting support for a proscribed group, including forms of supportive expression.

The decision follows a period in which the UK had already sanctioned the IRGC “in its entirety,” with ministers arguing Iran’s “malign activities”—including those carried out through the IRGC—pose unacceptable threats to the UK and its interests. The government said it will keep reviewing what further steps can be taken to deter Iran’s malign activity, and pointed to additional national security powers created in recent legislation.