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.”
