Cross Party Alliance Claims Whitehall Is Resisting Proscribing IRGC As A Terrorist Group

A number of MPs from across the House of Commons have claimed there is institutional resistance from Whitehall to proscribe the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group, a year after reports suggested a move could be considered.

Iran has historically held close ties with Palestinian territories. Iran has provided Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups an estimated $100million every year, according to US Government analysis. The IRGC emerged in 1979 after the Iranian Revolution as an opposition to Iran's military. There has been concern it has morphed into an economic and political power, and has strong ties with Iran's Supreme leader.

In October Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei denied any involvement in the 7 October terrorist attacks on Israel, in which Hamas killed approximately 1,200 people and more than 240 were taken hostage. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, 25,105 Palestinians have since been killed in ongoing retaliatory strikes by Israel.

In January 2023, the Telegraph reported that the UK Government was deliberating whether to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation with security minister Tom Tugendhat and then home secretary Suella Braverman reportedly in favour. A year later, with the group still not proscribed, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that he believed the UK had been “painfully slow” to act, and should take the threat of the “fanatical” Iranian regime more seriously.

A senior Conservative MP told PoliticsHome they believed the delay was a result of a belief in Whitehall and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) that the UK could use its influence over the organisation to suit Britain's and the