Labour MPs have hit out at Sir Keir Starmer’s government over its refusal to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terror organisation in the wake of the bloodbath unfolding on the streets of Iran.
In 2023, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper – then the shadow home secretary – announced a Labour policy to proscribe the IRGC as criticism mounted over then Tory government’s refusal to do so.
But in an apparent U-turn, business secretary Peter Kyle insisted that the UK government has “already used the sanctions against Iran to the full extent we can” and would not be proscribing the IRGC.
In the wake of the senior minister’s interview, three Labour backbenchers – Hemel Hempstead MP David Taylor and Leeds South West and Morley MP Mark Sewards – broke ranks to demand that the IRGC is proscribed as the world reacts with shock to the rising death toll in Tehran and other Iranian cities.
Mr Taylor said: “To watch the IRGC respond by gunning down peaceful protestors is a dark and despicable crime, one which is all too familiar to the Middle East. From Syria to Yemen to Ukraine, the malign role of Tehran in sowing destruction is beyond any doubt.
“We also know the threat the IRGC poses on our streets, from assassination plots to threatening journalists. The government must urgently bring forward the legislation proposed by Jonathan Hall KC to tackle this state-threat and fulfil our manifesto commitment.”
Mr Sewards, the chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), added: “Tehran’s terror army is not just a menace to the people of Iran, but is a direct threat to stability in the Middle East and UK national security.
“The government must act to proscribe the IRGC by bringing forward without delay the legislative proposals outlined by Jonathan Hall KC to combat state threats.”
Durham North MP Luke Akehurst acknowledged that there was complications with proscribing but said: “The IRGC is repressing democracy protesters in Iran as well as being a threat to people in the UK that Iran views as hostile. It is imperative that the UK bans this vile organisation as a matter of urgency.”
The decision to not take action against the IRGC comes despite the Labour government controversially using the counterterrorism powers to proscribe protest group Palestinian Action.
A number of other Labour MPs have privately raised their concerns that about the tone of the UK government’s response in the last week.
One MP noted that “while the Israeli ambassador has been called in twice in the last year, the Iranian ambassador has not been hauled in to explain his government’s appalling actions.”
Another suggested that the government’s approach to Iran and the unfolding tragedy has been “too soft”.
Earlier, Mr Kyle told Times Radio: “When you look at domestic terror legislation, the way that we proscribe domestic organisations is using domestic legislation.
“The independent reviewer has said that that isn’t appropriately used for state bodies, but we are looking very closely at these issues.
“It is no question and I don’t think anybody would question the fact that this government cares very deeply about civilians and people in Iran. We will do everything we can, but when we use domestic legislation we need to make sure that it’s appropriate use of it.”
The refusal comes despite the foreign secretary Ms Cooper supporting the proscription of the IRGC in 2023 on behalf of Labour in opposition when she was shadow home secretary, in an apparent U-turn.
Ms Cooper said in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI): “As part of the strategy, Labour will bring forward new changes to legislation to allow the government to ban hostile state-sponsored organisations who undermine our national security”.
“So instead of trying and failing to use counter-terror legislation to proscribe organisations like Wagner or IRGC, we will introduce a bespoke proscribing mechanism to address state-sponsored threats”.
At the time, 125 cross-party MPs signed a letter backing the move to proscribe the IRGC which was being resisted by Rishi Sunak’s government.
Officials at the Foreign Office (FCDO) have previously resisted proscribing the IRGC and persuaded ministers that it would sever all contact between the UK and Iran making it much harder to deal with issues such as the illegal imprisonment of British nationals like Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who was held hostage by the regime for six years.
There has been sustained on the government to proscribe the IRGC for years because it is believed to be behind state sponsored terrorism from Iran.
Added to that it has been at the forefront of the brutal suppression of the Iranian people by the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led theocratic regime and is now leading the efforts to put down the protests including, according to reports, gun down people on the streets.
The US has already proscribed the IRGC and hopes had been raised that the UK would follow suit when Heidi Alexander said on Sunday that the issue was kept under review.
But asked whether he was ruling out a ban on the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) or whether there could be some kind of ban but not via domestic legislation, Mr Kyle said: “We’ve already used the sanctions against Iran to the full extent we can.”
He added that Sir Keir Starmer was working with international partners to see how “we can bring international pressure to bear” on Iran.
But activists are increasing pressure for a change of mind on the issue.
Laila Jazayeri, director of the Association of Anglo-Iranian Women in the UK, said the IRGC had already gone too far.
Speaking at the demonstration on Sunday, she said: “The prime minister should proscribe the deadly force IRGC, that is killing people inside Iran.”
A source close to Ms Cooper pointed to a speech she made in the Commons on 19 May last year in her previous role as home secretary where she announced that the government is “committed to taking forward Mr Hall’s recommendations” which included “drawing up new powers, modelled on counter-terrorism powers, in a series of areas to tackle state threats.”
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk
