British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced plans to table new legislation within coming weeks to formally proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to a recent report from Agence France-Presse. The commitment was delivered during an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, carried out during Starmer’s visit to a London synagogue that survived an attempted arson attack just seven days prior to his trip.
This policy pledge follows a similar move by the European Union, which voted in January to officially label the IRGC a terrorist organization in response to the group’s brutal crackdown on large-scale anti-government protests inside Iran. When questioned about the timeline for the proscription, Starmer confirmed that targeted legislative action is required to crack down on hostile foreign actors operating within UK borders, and his government intends to move forward with the bill as rapidly as possible.
“We go into a new session (of parliament) in a few weeks’ time and we’ll bring that legislation forward,” Starmer added.
Tensions have been running high across Jewish communities in northwest London in recent weeks, with local residents remaining on high alert after a string of arson attacks targeting synagogues and Jewish community infrastructure. The wave of incidents began shortly after U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iranian targets launched on February 28. Starmer has publicly stated he is growing increasingly concerned about foreign states conducting malicious activities through proxies on British soil.
First established after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the IRGC functions as the ideological wing of Iran’s military, tasked with protecting the country’s clerical ruling system. Beyond its security and military mandate, the organization also holds direct or controlling ownership of businesses across nearly every major strategic sector of the Iranian economy, giving it extensive influence over the nation’s domestic and international affairs.