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The arrest of five Iranian nationals on terror charges across the UK has led to renewed calls by lawmakers to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis told Parliament on Tuesday that the arrests marked "the first Iranian nationals arrested under the National Security Act.”
He said the Iranian state—including the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security—had previously been placed on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme.
“Anyone in the UK who works for the Iranian state must declare it or they will be committing a serious criminal offence,” he added.
The arrests, made on May 4 in London, Rochdale, Swindon, Manchester and Stockport, involved five men held under the Terrorism Act 2006 and three more under the National Security Act. Four remain in custody. Authorities believe the group was only hours away from attacking a specific location.
The Telegraph reported that at least one of the suspects is closely tied to the Islamic Republic’s leadership and comes from a prominent business family.
Jarvis said MI5 and police have responded to 20 Iran-backed plots since January 2022.
Liberal Democrat MP Lisa Smart criticized the government, saying, “Over recent years Members have been called to this Chamber to discuss plots to commit acts of terror on Britain’s streets at the hands of the Iranian regime—but consecutive Governments are yet to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.”
“If now is not the time for proscription, when should the House expect a further update?” she asked.
Labor’s Matt Vickers recalled the Home Secretary’s previous commitment to impose “appropriately targeted proscription-style restrictions” on state-linked entities such as the IRGC.
Labor and Co-operative MP Alex Sobel protested that he “asked many times for proscription of the IRGC, as it is certainly one of the bodies in Iran that is responsible for transnational repression,” while Labor MP Jon Pearce raised concerns that UK-based charities may be used to fund terrorism.
According to the government, a review of legal options by Jonathan Hall, an independent barrister, has been completed and will be published soon. Ministers have said they will not hesitate to act based on the findings.
Meanwhile, exiled Iranian prince Reza Pahlavi called the arrests further proof of what he calls Tehran’s global threat. “The arrest of Islamic Republic agents in the UK, on the brink of another terror attack, reinforces the need to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization,” he wrote on X.
“This regime has proven, once again, that it will not change its behavior. It continues to spread terror not only in the Middle East but to target innocent civilians across Europe and the United States.”
"Any deal that lets Iran enrich uranium, keep centrifuges, or build missiles isn’t a deal—it’s a delay. Real peace requires real dismantlement," Republican Senator Tom Cotton said on Tuesday.
The understanding between the United States and the Houthis not to attack each other is aimed at building momentum for Iran nuclear deal talks, CNN reported citing people familiar with the matter.
An apparent truce to a blazing Yemen front in Iran's regionwide confrontation with Israel and the United States could deal a fillip to flagging Iran-US talks that had been dogged by the uptick in fighting.
US President Donald Trump made the shock announcement in the White House on Tuesday that he was calling off a bombing campaign on Yemen's Houthis after the Iran-backed group "capitulated" by agreeing to halt attacks on shipping.
Oman said on Tuesday it was mediating a Houthi-US ceasefire deal, but adding to the fog of war, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti was quoted by Bloomberg as saying after Trump's announcement that it would continue its campaign until Israel halts attacks on Gaza.
Tehran and Washington have signaled continued commitment to nuclear negotiations but stepped-up combat between the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and Israel had cast a shadow over the diplomatic efforts.
The Houthis pierced Israel's air defenses to land a ballistic missile near Israel's main airport on Saturday and Israeli fighter jets attacked Yemen's main port on Monday and airport on Tuesday along with power plants and a factory.
"Our choice of when to respond, how to respond, and on what targets to respond - this is a consideration we make every time," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
"And this also concerns the patron of the Houthis - Iran, without whose approval and their long-term support, the Houthis cannot carry out their criminal missile attack."
The uptick in violence suggests the religious militia and perhaps its backers in Tehran are not deterred despite the painful blows Israel has meted out to Iran and its armed affiliates in over a year of regional fighting.
Before the Ben Gurion airport attack, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also warned of unspecified payback for Tehran, citing its continued support for the Houthis despite an explicit warning from President Trump that they desist support or face attack.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has long rejected the notion that groups like the Houthis act at Iran’s direction. “The Islamic Republic does not have proxies. Yemen is fighting because of its faith,” he said in a December 2024 speech.
In a letter to the United Nations on Monday, Iran's UN ambassador Saeid Iravani rejected allegations of complicity in the Houthi attack on the airport, warning that “the United States and the Israeli regime will bear full and unequivocal responsibility for all consequences” arising from any aggression on the Islamic Republic.
The future of Iran-US indirect talks currently hangs in the balance after a fourth round is due to be held in Oman over the weekend after they were delayed by a week for unclear reasons.
Hardline Iranian media and officials, including the IRGC-linked Javan newspaper, praise the Houthis for their anti-Israeli and anti-American positions. “Ansarullah's missiles on Ben Gurion shook Israel’s psychological security,” Ali Shamkhani, a Khamenei advisor, wrote Tuesday on X.
“The attack from Sanaa was a strategic blow to the delusion of the Resistance’s collapse — a front that now holds the initiative, with an ever-growing presence from Lebanon and Gaza to Iraq and Sanaa,” he wrote.
Yet, the strike's timing has led some commentators to posit that that factions within Iran may be actively undermining diplomatic progress.
Iranian-Canadian analyst Shahir Shahidsaless raised the question directly: “Is the hardline faction of the Iranian government once again trying to sabotage and disrupt the talks?” he posted on X.
Even some conservatives have acknowledged that the timing of the strike could be damaging to the US talks. Military analyst Behzad Atabaki, writing on a Telegram channel, argued that Iran should have at least called for a pause in Houthi attacks during the negotiation period. “Maybe it’s too late, maybe not,” he said.
Oman's foreign minister Badr Albusaidi said on Tuesday said the sultanate's mediation had secured a ceasefire agreement between Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement and the United States.
