Britain moves to outlaw support for Iran's IRGC after attacks

Britain on Monday laid draft regulations to outlaw support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, widening its domestic security response after a series of antisemitic attacks tied to Iran-linked activity. Under the new powers, anyone who supports a designated body could face prosecution, while acts of sabotage carried out on behalf of such a group, including arson, could bring life imprisonment.

The National Security (State Threats) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 8 July, and the IRGC, IMCR and Russia’s GRU Volunteer Corps will be the first bodies designated under the new regime. The move goes beyond sanctions already imposed on the IRGC by targeting support itself, extending the legal net around fundraising, propaganda, recruitment and operational assistance.

The move followed the March 23 arson attack in Golders Green, where four Hatzola ambulances were set on fire outside Machzike Hadath Synagogue. Police and fire officials treated it as a counterterrorism matter after the London Fire Brigade found exploding cylinders on the vehicles. No injuries were reported and no arrests had been made at the time, but counterterrorism police arrested two men on March 25 in connection with the attack, while CCTV suggested at least three people had taken part. Police kept an enhanced presence around affected communities in north London.

Government documents show the IMCR had publicly claimed seven attacks at UK locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities and Persian-language media. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the new powers would make it easier to prosecute and imprison people doing the groups’ work inside Britain, as ministers cast the measure as part of a wider effort to confront foreign interference and violence on British streets.

The Home Office said the UK saw a 35 percent increase in state-threat activity in 2025, while MI5 tracked more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots over the same period. The Board of Deputies of British Jews welcomed the move to proscribe the IRGC, saying it would better enable authorities to protect the Jewish community and others. Parliament still has to approve the designations before they take effect.