Former home secretary David Blunkett has become the most senior Labour party member to call for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be banned by Britain under new terror-style powers.
Lord Blunkett, who served in Tony Blair’s government, said he backed the proscription of the IRGC, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood.
On Thursday, the EU's foreign ministers agreed to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation in response to Tehran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters. The bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said “repression cannot go unanswered”.
The move was welcomed by victims in Europe who have been threatened, harassed and intimidated by the IRGC and have led pressure for the UK to follow suit.
Keir Starmer supported a ban while in opposition, but has refused to blacklist the Iranian regime’s military wing since becoming prime minister, after receiving advice it would not be the “appropriate” penalty for a foreign state organisation.
Yvette Cooper, as Home Secretary, announced last May that powers would be created to proscribe such organisations if they were deemed to pose a threat to Britain, following recommendations by terror watchdog Jonathan Hall KC.
Government sources said on Thursday night proposed laws will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows and indicated that the IRGC would be on the list.
Lord Blunkett said he was “totally in favour” of proscribing the IRGC and, “for that matter, the Muslim Brotherhood”.
He told The Telegraph: “I hope very much that in the spirit of the way in which the new Home Secretary [Shabana Mahmood] has tackled other issues, she will be prepared to act on both of these.”
The Tories and Lib Dems have also called on ministers to take action.
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said the brutality of the Iranian regime was an “affront to humanity” as she renewed calls for a UK ban.
Ms Patel said: “The Labour government’s silence on the IRGC is appalling. We have said that we would work with them to bring forward the legal and legislative mechanisms for the UK to take action.
“Britain must stand up for the Iranian people and confront this vile regime with strength and resolve.”
Tory MP Bob Blackman welcomed the EU’s “long-overdue” decision to proscribe the IRGC, saying: “Our allies have acted. The UK must now stop procrastinating, proscribe the IRGC, and stand firmly with the Iranian people fighting for freedom, democracy and human rights.”
In the Commons on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was urged by Liberal Democrat Sarah Olney to proscribe the IRGC.
Mr Lammy condemned the Iranian regime’s “brutal repression” of demonstrators but said it was “a long-standing position under successive governments not to comment on whether a specific organisation is being considered for proscription”.
He pointed to sanctions already placed on Iran and said the government was “working at pace … to explore what further measures can be taken”.
A government spokesman said: “We utterly condemn the terrible violence being used by the Iranian regime against those exercising their right to peaceful protest.
“The government has already sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety, as well as more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities, and set out a robust package of measures to tackle threats from the Iranian regime.”
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticised the EU ministers' decision, saying Europe was “making another major strategic mistake”.
The US government has encouraged the UK and other allies to follow it in proscribing the IRGC, which President Donald Trump did during his first term in office.
The US has sent a naval force to the region, which Mr Trump said could act with “speed and violence” if necessary.
The US President, who has pledged help to the uprising against the Tehran regime, suggested this week that the fleet's presence was linked to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The US carried out air strikes against Iranian nuclear sites in June last year.
