UK designates Iran's IRGC as national security threat

The British government announced that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be designated as a threat to national security under the newly enacted National Security (State Threats) Act 2026. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move will make it easier to prosecute anyone who supports or assists the IRGC, with penalties ranging from up to 14 years in prison to life imprisonment for sabotage or arson. The designation also applies to the Iran‑backed Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR) and Russia’s GRU Volunteer Corps. Security Minister Angela Eagle noted that IMCR claimed responsibility for seven anti‑Semitic attacks on Jewish sites, ambulances and Persian‑language media in the UK, and said members of the IRGC’s Quds Force “almost certainly” directed those attacks across Europe. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood warned that Iran and Russia are using “proxies and thugs” on British soil. Parliament must approve the draft regulations, which officials expect to do within the week. The measures follow a series of arson and vandalism incidents that caused no injuries but heightened concerns about foreign‑state‑backed sabotage. The EU has already listed the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and the UK’s action is likely to further strain relations with Tehran and Moscow.