Britain has classified Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a state threat organization, commonly described as proscription, making it a criminal offense to belong to the group, attend its meetings, or carry its logo in public.

The designation uses the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on July 8, according to GOV.UK. The law exists because standard terrorism proscription does not fit a foreign state’s military organ. Independent reviewer Jonathan Hall KC found in a May 2025 report that “terrorism proscription charges would not be appropriate” for bodies like the IRGC and recommended a parallel power instead, according to the UK Parliament Hansard record. Supporting or benefiting from a designated body carries up to 14 years in prison, per the House of Commons Library.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the powers would make it easier to prosecute anyone in Britain carrying out the IRGC’s work, according to Al-Monitor. The UK simultaneously designated the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right (IMCR) after it claimed seven attacks in Britain, including arson at synagogues and a Persian-language media outlet critical of Iran’s government, according to the Times of Israel. Security Minister Angela Eagle said IRGC Quds Force members were “almost certainly” behind those attacks, per the Times of Israel.

The move follows the European Union’s designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization, adopted on February 19, 2026, according to the Council of the European Union. Canada listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity in 2024, and the US did so in 2019, per Iran International.