UK to designate Revolutionary Guards A Terrorist Group

Joining the move of the U.S., France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand UK government appears to be moving closer to proscribing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation

former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith said “Why are the UK Government dragging their feet over what is clearly a required action, given that the Republican Guard is so heavily involved in the brutality and murder of people?”

“We have not sanctioned all the guards at Evin prison. We have sanctioned former guards — who are not there perpetrating crimes currently — but not those who are in the prison now. I ask the minister to look at that urgently, because it is something that we can change overnight,” said Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Many thousands have been arrested and hundreds killed in the protests, to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. In addition, more than 40 protesters have been handed death penalties following deeply-flawed trials. To date, at least four have been executed: Mohsen Shekari, Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini.

Concern over the Iranian regime’s actions has been heightened in the UK by the plight of Alireza Akbari, an UK-Iranian dual national who served as a deputy defense minister in the Iranian government from 2000–04, but who is now at imminent risk of execution, after being convicted of spying.