Report: UK preparing to follow in EU’s footsteps, proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

The British government is preparing to ban Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after a deadly crackdown on mass protesters left thousands dead, The Times newspaper reports.

The report comes after the European Union agreed yesterday to include the IRGC on its list of terrorist organizations.

The British Home Office confirms to The Times that it is preparing legislation to proscribe the IRGC, and sources say it will be ready later this year.

The legislation will give police the ability to go after individuals suspected of working for the IRGC, including by allowing them to confiscate passports and stop and search people and locations believed to be a threat, the report says.

According to The Times, the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service is opposed to proscribing the IRGC, as it could harm diplomatic channels and potentially lead to the expulsion of diplomats from Iran.

It reports that the UK’s Foreign Office has urged a different approach as well, and is pushing for the government to impose sanctions on known members of the IRGC rather than going after it as a whole.

Yesterday, the EU approved visa bans and asset freezes on 21 state entities and Iranian officials — including the country’s interior minister — over the brutal repression in Iran.

Iranian authorities acknowledge that thousands were killed during the protests, giving a toll of over 3,000 people, but say the majority were members of the security forces or bystanders killed by “rioters.”

Rights groups and media reports dispute this, saying the toll is far higher and potentially in the tens of thousands, and noting that protesters were killed by security forces including the IRGC directly firing upon them.