“Banning the IRGC would help disrupt the Iranian regime’s ability to fund, recruit, and protect individuals and organizations within the UK, potentially preventing plots—such as the targeting of the Israeli embassy—before they can be carried out.”
Iranian terrorists were just hours away from committing a terror attack against the Israeli embassy in London. Now, investigators are examining whether the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) may have directed the plan, which police say was in the advanced stages.
Four Iranian men were arrested by armed police in multiple UK cities, including Swindon, Stockport, Rochdale and west London, during daytime on Saturday. A fifth man was arrested in Manchester and released on bail. In a separate operation, three Iranian men were arrested in London for “suspected foreign power threat activity”. It is the latest in multiple Iranian-linked plots in that have been uncovered by MI5 and is being described as one of the most significant recent counter-terrorism actions.
While the intended target was initially unclear, it has since been reported that the plan was to attack the Israeli embassy in west London. It serves as a reminder to pray for protection of Israelis and Jews in the UK. It should also be a wake-up call for the UK to finally ban the IRGC. It is unbelievable that it isn’t already.
CUFI has repeatedly called on the UK government to ban the IRGC. As demonstrated by the thwarting of this latest plot, the IRGC represents a threat to UK citizens, the British Jewish Community, other UK nationals with connections to Israel and general British interests with the Middle East and Gulf states. Iranian dissidents have expressed similar concerns, highlighting the threat to them and their families for being in opposition to the Iranian regime. The UK government needs to take the threat very seriously.
The IRGC supports, arms, trains and funds other terrorist organisations including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis. Only this week, we saw one of the Houthis rockets evade Israel’s anti-missile system and strike area surrounding Ben Gurion Airport. These Iranian-backed proxies will be emboldened even more than they are already by not holding the IRGC to account.
The IRGC is representative of a deeply antisemitic regime. The IRGC’s Quds (Jerusalem) Force aims to act as an army with a mandate to export the Iranian revolution overseas and “liberate Palestine” through destroying Israel, which Iran describes as the “Zionist regime” and a “cancerous tumour” that must be “eradicated.”
There have been some voices in government that have expressed concern that banning the IRGC would prevent diplomatic engagement with Iran. But proscribing the IRGC would make it clear which areas of Iranian activity are unacceptable.
Banning the IRGC would help disrupt the Iranian regime’s ability to fund, recruit, and protect individuals and organizations within the UK, potentially preventing plots—such as the targeting of the Israeli embassy—before they can be carried out.
