Three groups – two backed by Iran and one by Russia – have been outlawed in the UK using new proscription-style powers combatting state threats.
Among the organisations now listed by the government is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran, which has been linked to attacks on British soil.
The latest move means supporting or assisting the groups can lead to 14 years in prison – similar to rules banning the support of terror organisations.
Those who conduct acts of sabotage on behalf of them, meanwhile, can face life imprisonment.
Also outlawed under the new measures are the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR), also from Iran, and Russia’s GRU Volunteer Corps.
The March 23 antisemitic arson incident on Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green, north-west London, is one of seven attacks in the UK publicly claimed by the IMCR.
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It also claimed responsibility for the attack on the Finchley Reform synagogue and another on the offices of a Persian-language media organisation in Park Royal.
Members of the IRGC were ‘sitting behind’ the IMCR, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said, and ‘almost certainly’ directed attacks by the group across Europe.
Outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his government would ‘never let Britain be a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets’.
He continued: ‘Anyone acting on behalf of those who threaten our national security should be in no doubt that there is no place for you in Britain.
‘We will find you and you will face the full force of the law.’
The GRU Volunteer Corps is described by the Home Office as a ‘formal group of volunteers and mercenary-style formations’ that is ‘controlled, coordinated and overseen’ by the GRU – the Russian military intelligence agency that took over from the KGB.
According to government assessments, it is ‘involved in foreign power threat activity, including sabotage and other activity directed against the UK’.
Previously, the GRU is thought to be behind the 2018 Salisbury Novichok attack that led to the death of Dawn Sturgess and serious poisoning of three others.
The designation of the IRGC as a state threat comes after years of campaigning, with Cooper committing to creating new laws in May 2025.
She said at the time there was a ‘backdrop of rising numbers of Iran-linked operations on UK soil where there have been repeated warnings by ministers, the police and our security and intelligence agencies’.
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said today’s announcement was ‘welcome, but long overdue’.
She added: ‘Conservatives offered to work with ministers to mpass emergency legislation, but Labour dithered and delayed.
‘The government must urgently explain how this designation will be enforced, and on what timetable.’
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