Sunak urged to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist group (Image: Getty)
Just hours after bombing Houthi militants in Yemen, ministers were urged to proscribe the IRGC to “counter their malign influence” on our doorstep and around the world.
The IRGC has been accused of attempting assassinations on British soil, funding, arming and training terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah and supporting the Houthis’ Red Sea piracy campaign.
Alicia Kearns, Chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told the Daily Express: “Whether training and equipping terrorists in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria or Gaza, murdering and brutalising the women and girls of Iran, or attempting assassinations on British soil, the IRGC is the foremost global sponsor of terrorism.”
“There is no act too deranged or cause too evil that they will not support, and the UK Government should have proscribed them as a terrorist organisation years ago. Doing so now will allow us to counter their malign influence more effectively, both on our own streets and around the world.”
Former Defence Secretary Sir Liam Fox said: “It is time Britain followed the US and proscribed the IRGC who are the main instrument of repression inside Iran, supplied Russia with drones to oppress the Ukrainians and complicit in Iran’s attempts to destabilise its neighbours.”
Security chiefs are on heightened alert that the US-led military strikes in Yemen could increase the threat of Britain facing a retaliation from Iranian-backed militias or terrorists.
This ranges from so-called lone wolf extremists being radicalised by Islamist propaganda online to conventional attacks launched by armed militias in the Middle East.
MI5 Director General Ken McCallum has previously warned how events abroad can inspire extremists to commit atrocities in their home country.
He said in October: “Events in the Middle East sharpen the possibility that Iran might decide to move into new directions.”
“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that could include the UK, but we are already operating at a high level of Iran-generated threat.”
Many also fear Western warships in the Red Sea could be targeted again with cruise missiles and drones. HMS Diamond was bombarded by kamikaze drones and missiles.
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British and American forces on Thursday night destroyed more than 60 Houthi targets in a multi-pronged assault.
The UK and US ordered fighter jets, navy destroyers and a submarine to bomb drone storage units, missile launch sites, airfields, ammunition supplies, production facilities and air defence radar systems.
Western leaders were under growing pressure to act after Houthi rebels targeted more than two dozen cargo ships with drones and cruise missiles, severely disrupting global trade.
Four RAF Typhoons destroyed targets in Bani, used by the Houthis to launch drones and an airfield in Abbs used to fire cruise missiles and drones.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned Western allies are willing to strike again if ship attacks continue.
But the militant group immediately vowed to take revenge and continue with their chaotic campaign.
The Houthis’ Supreme Political Council said “The Americans and the British should not believe that they will escape the punishment of our heroic armed forces. in a statement on their official media.
“All American-British interests have become legitimate targets for the Yemeni armed forces in response to their direct and declared aggression against the Republic of Yemen.”
But many MPs are concerned the Houthis’ bid to disrupt international shipping routes is being orchestrated by Iran.
This claim has been denied by Tehran.
Tobias Ellwood, Former Chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee, said: “Yet just as Hamas’ barbaric attacks on October 7 did not come out the blue, the Houthis’ ability to wreak havoc across the Red Sea is part of Iran’s wider strategy to sow instability and call the shots across the Middle East that date back to the revolution in 1979.”
“It has no interest in conflict with the West itself, content instead to fund, arm and train extremist groups and paramilitaries such as the Houthis to do the fighting instead. Directly tasked with this remit is Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
“It is now high time they should be proscribed as a terrorist organisation as part of a wider strategy to contain Tehran.”
READ MORE The West can stop the Houthis – but it won’t be easy
Former armed forces minister Mark Francois: “It is an open secret that Iran finances and trains the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah, so now that we are bombing the Houthis for attacking merchant shipping in international waters, it is high time we finally proscribed their paymasters as well.”
The IRGC was linked to a plot to assassinate two TV presenters outside their studio in London.
Iranian spies offered a people smuggler $200,000 to murder two Iran International hosts, Fardad Farahzad and Sima Sabet, because they were allegedly causing “a lot of humiliation in the media”.
They were given codenames of the “bride and groom”, it is understood.
Mohammed Reza Ansari, a commander from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was behind the plot.
According to Ismail, the people smuggler approached by the Iranians to carry out the hit, his commanders told him in October last year: “This London thing must be done in any circumstances.”
“We must finish them.”
Ismail, speaking about the presenters, told ITV: “They accuse Iran of committing any kidnap or assassination [on television] and we must finish them and make an example of them to anyone who will run the channel after them, so anyone who will take their place in the channel will learn a lesson from what happened to them.”
Mr McCallum also revealed Iran tried to assassinate 10 British nationals in 2022.
Downing Street on Friday rejected claims the UK wants to turn the Red Sea into a “sea of blood”.
Some are concerned the US-led military action could lead to a wider, regional war.
And Turkey’s President, Tayyip Erdogan, said: “At the moment, they are trying to turn the Red Sea into a sea of blood and Yemen, with the Houthis and by using all of its force, says it is and will give the necessary response in the region to the United States, Britain.”
But Foreign Secretary David Cameron warned that Britain is prepared to strike again if the Houthis continue to attack cargo vessels.
He said: “We will do what is necessary to protect our ships to protect maritime freedom of navigation on important maritime pathways.”
He added: “But, to be clear what we were doing – warning – was not working.”
“The number of attacks was increasing, the severity of those attacks was increasing. This escalation has been caused by the Houthis. And this action is in response to that to send a very clear message that if you act in this way, there aren’t just warnings, there are consequences.”
