UK Lawmakers Call for Designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guard as Terror Group

Dozens of members of the UK parliament have called on the government to proscribe Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, saying it would “constitute a significant step towards peace, stability, and justice in the Middle East and beyond.”

In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, more than 60 members of the lower house of parliament and the House of Lords said that “given the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, it is now more urgent than ever to proscribe the IRGC.”

The IRGC is already subject to UK sanctions. Designating it as a terrorist group would mean it would become a criminal offense in the country to belong to the force, attend its meetings or carry its logo in public. 

Last month, over 30 UK lawmakers issued a similar call, citing the IRGC’s “inhumane and unlawful actions” both in Iran and Britain.

A foreign office minister said in January that Britain was actively considering designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization but had not reached a final decision.

The European Union, the United States, the UK and other countries have issued multiple rounds of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in recent months over its crackdown on dissent and its supply of drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine. 

So far, the United States is the only Western country to have labeled the IRGC as a terrorist organization.