After Manchester, UK must honor IRGC pledge before even worse atrocity

In July, I wrote an Opinion piece calling on the government to honor its election pledge to ban Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), whose generals have called for “an apocalyptic war on Jews.”

Now, in the aftermath of the shocking but all-too-predictable events that took place in Manchester on Yom Kippur, it is even more urgent for the government to take action to ban Iran’s stormtroopers who quite openly incite hate and fuel antisemitism. Hand-wringing and rhetoric are not enough. The government needs to act before an even more grievous atrocity takes place similar to those perpetrated by radicalized Muslims in France in Toulouse in 2012, at a Kosher supermarket in 2015 and in Marseilles in 2016.

This government has, of course, banned “Palestine Action.” But in doing so, it has elevated a vocal but largely irrelevant fringe rent-a-mob to martyrdom and made a cause celebre while leaving the infinitely more dangerous people – who almost certainly fund, support and radicalize these paint-throwing Marxist climate-warriors – to carry on their incitement unhindered.

The government’s refusal to honor its promise was already having frightening, real-life consequences for the Jewish community, even before there were dead and severely injured Jews at Heaton Park Synagogue.

As the government seems to have been taken by surprise by the events of Yom Kippur, let us remind ourselves – and the government  – of the content of the Board of Deputies’ Commission on Antisemitism, published in July. Jews in the UK had suffered an “onslaught of antisemitism” since the 7 October Hamas massacre. Jewish schoolchildren were warned to hide identifying blazer badges or religious insignia. At the same time, the weekly pro-Palestine marches that are, effectively, carnivals of frenzied support for the Islamist psychopaths who slaughtered 1200 men, women and children, have created an “atmosphere of dread” that left many British Jews “scared to enter their own cities,” the review declared. Antisemitism, it noted, was “pervasive” in “the NHS, at universities, in public services and in the Arts.”

Iran’s “Revolutionary Guard” is one of the most powerful paramilitary organizations in the Middle East. It not only supports Iran’s proxies (including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen) but it also controls the “covert, foreign operations” of the Iranian government which is why Labour pledged to proscribe Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard but has thus far failed to do so. The “promise” to ban the IRGC was made in an interview published in The Telegraph just 9 days ahead of the General Election in a story  which also noted that the Sunak government — — then still in office — had “declined the move” due to “Foreign Office” fears of “damaging diplomatic ties with Tehran.” This would not be hugely surprising given the FCO’s reputation for favoring Islamic Middle East nations but it is terrifying to think that their “fears” may override considerations for the safety of UK citizens.

This 2023 story from The Independent headlined: “Iranian Guards chiefs ‘tried to radicalize UK students with antisemitic talks claiming Holocaust was fake” offers further enlightenment on IRGC activism in the  UK.

The story noted that “Senior commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)” had tried to “radicalize British university students with extreme antisemitic propaganda and calls for violence.”

The Indie story went on to say that eight “controversial” armed-forces chiefs had allegedly addressed Muslim students, “urging them to “support” attacks  and to support “people who have carried out acts of violence.” According to the report, the talks were live-streamed from Iran and hosted by the Islamic Students Association of Britain (ISA). The talks — by speakers, who have played key roles in crushing dissent in Iran — were said to have been viewed by “tens of thousands of people.”

One commander allegedly described the Holocaust as “fake” and urged listeners to “join the beautiful list of soldiers who would fight and kill Jews.”

Another IGRC commander allegedly claimed that “Jews created homosexuality” and said students should “raise the flag of the Islamic Revolution” and “martyrdom” and should see themselves as “holy warriors.” He allegedly declared that  the “era of the Jews would soon end.”

A report on the BBC website in May 2023 also referred to videos of antisemitic speeches by “Iranian generals” to UK students that were “being investigated by the Charity Commission”. The report noted that the charity regulator was also “looking at footage of “‘death to Israel’ chants” heard at the “UK premises” of an Islamic charity.” Two of those videos, that were apparently “verified by the BBC,”  show talks by members of the IRGC referring  to “an apocalyptic war on Jews.” The videos – the BBC report says with sublime understatement – add “to growing concerns” that the IRGC is “attempting to radicalize UK Muslims.”

In 2022, security services also warned that the IRGC was “inciting violence … on British soil”. Again in 2023, the then head of MI5, Ken McCallum reported in his update on threats facing the UK, that Iran threatened the UK “directly” through its “aggressive intelligence services.” This included intentions to “kidnap or even kill British or UK-based people” perceived as enemies of the regime.

Also in January 2023, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change set out the reasons why the then Conservative Government “must move to proscribe” the IRGC. The Commons had voted  “unanimously” in favor of the government taking “swift” action to proscribe the IRGC. The Sunak government however was discouraged from taking action (swift or otherwise) by the FCO amid those fears of “damaging” relations with Tehran.

The Blair Institute went on to describe the IRGC as a “violent, Islamist-extremist organization” that operates no differently to “other proscribed groups” in the UK, such as “ Islamic State (ISIS) or al-Qaeda.” This was “apparent from its formal program of indoctrination designed to radicalize members to adopt its hardline Islamist-extremist ideology.”

Formally banning or proscribing the IRGC, said the Blair Institute, would “send a clear message to the clerical regime in Iran that the IRGC’s “terrorism and militancy” on UK soil, “would not be tolerated.”

Yet it has been tolerated and it continues to be tolerated. It is now more than two years since the Commons vote, and over a year since Labour came to office having promised  it would proscribe an organization overtly inciting hatred against Jews.

Honoring this promise to proscribe the IRGC may be costly in terms of political capital with the Hard Left, etc, but regardless of the cost, the Government needs to take immediate action against a group overtly inciting hatred against UK Jews before an even worse atrocity is perpetrated.