The UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, has said there are no plans for the UK to ban Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), despite mounting cross-party pressure in Westminster, saying he does not consider such a move to be in Britain’s interests.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Security Minister Tom Tugendhat have both backed the move, but the Foreign Office is still resisting. Proscribing the IRGC would make it a criminal offence in the UK to attend the group’s meetings, display its logo in public or encourage its activities.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to Israel this week, Cleverly asked whether he would support proscribing the IRGC in light of the UK Government’s decision to declare Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group a terrorist organisation last week. But Cleverly insisted that “many of the things that people want” from proscription were “actually being achieved by our sanctions regime” that is already in place.
“We will always keep our options open and we will always act in our country’s best interests,” Cleverly said.
“Any decision we make on proscription or sanctions is always done with the protection of British nationals and British interests at heart.”
Cleverly said he would not “speculate” on whether the policy might change in future, pointing out that any decision of this kind would be taken “across government”, not by the Foreign Office alone.
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Meanwhile, senior Tory MP David Davis has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asking him to order proscription immediately.
In his letter, the Foreign Office minister responsible for intelligence and security, who also served as a member of the SAS — wrote:
“Iran is one of the UK’s most prominent adversaries on the global stage. But its activities go beyond the diplomatic sphere and into the territory of terror.”
The letter goes on to cite recent reports revealing IRGC commanders’ talks to UK students, and collaborations between British and Iranian scientists on sophisticated drone technology. It also notes that Tugendhat has confirmed that “Iran has been seeking to compile intelligence on prominent UK-based Jews”.
Davis’s letter says: “All these things add up to a serious risk to the British state and its citizens. The Government rightly proposes to proscribe the Wagner Group.
“If a group which poses no direct or immediate threat to British residents can be proscribed, the case for proscribing the IRGC, which clearly poses such a threat, is overwhelming.”
United by our unwavering belief in democracy.
Thank you for the warm welcome to Israel, @netanyahu 🇮🇱🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/Bonye3LUqR
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) September 12, 2023
On arriving in Israel on Monday, Cleverly posted a photo on social media of himself meeting Netanyahu, with a comment that Britain and Israel were “united in democracy”.
During his visit, Cleverly also spoke with British-born Rabbi Leo Dee, whose wife and two daughters were killed earlier this year in a Palestinian terror attack on the West Bank, and visited Yad Vashem where he laid a wreath.
Cleverly also denounced Abbas for his recent antisemitic comments, saying such rhetoric hampered the chances of peace. “We condemned these antisemitic remarks unreservedly after they were made, and I have made clear to all my counterparts that rhetoric like this creates further division at a time when we need to see dialogue,” Cleverly said.
https://twitter.com/JamesCleverly/status/1702600546094391296
This year, we want to do more to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
We know that as we bless Israel this year, God will bless us, just as He promised in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Now is the time to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
