UK Bans Iran’s Revolutionary Guard After Blaming Proxy Group for Attacks on Jewish Sites

The United Kingdom has officially banned Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a proxy group known as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right (IMCR), following a series of arson and vandalism attacks on Jewish sites. The UK government stated on Monday that the IMCR, operating under the direction of the IRGC’s Qods Force, was responsible for seven attacks within the country.

Security Minister Angela Eagle announced that the IMCR had claimed responsibility for attacks including fires at synagogues and Jewish charity ambulances in London, as well as targeting a Persian-language media outlet critical of the Iranian government. No injuries were reported in these incidents.

“Sitting behind IMCR were members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force, who almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe,” Eagle said. The Qods Force is the IRGC’s expeditionary unit responsible for overseas operations.

The IMCR emerged online earlier this year and has also claimed attacks on synagogues in Belgium and the Netherlands. Law enforcement and intelligence sources indicate that Iran-backed proxy groups are increasingly active in Europe, often recruiting members of criminal networks to carry out sabotage and other attacks.

Earlier this month, two Romanian men were sentenced to prison for stabbing a journalist from a Persian-language television station, an attack a judge ruled was carried out on behalf of the Iranian state.

Iran has not yet commented on the UK’s allegations and ban. The European Union had previously designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization in January, citing Tehran’s crackdown on protests.