Pressure is mounting this January against the Islamic Republic of Iran with news that the UK is set to officially proscribe IRGC as a terrorist organisation – a move, which, although largely anticipated and called for by parliamentarians and advocacy groups, had yet to be confirmed by government officials.
Iran has been engulfed by violent protests since the death last September (2022) of young Mahsa Amini by the hands of the morality police over her failure to comply with the mandatory wear of the headscarf.
News of the abuse she suffered while in custody prompted nationwide calls for regime change and a break from religious fundamentalism in favour of secularism.
Under the Governance of the Jurist, Iran has, while doning the title of a republic, functioned as an absolute theocracy; its ruling elite asserting its power by conflating any and all criticism to acts of apostasy or enmity against God – crimes punishable by death.
Marred by bloodshed, Iran’s rebellion against the rule of the mullahs has not only laid bare Tehran’s brutal domestic agenda, but exposed the extent of its ‘Terror’ network abroad, through its many agencies and outposts.
Last November Ken McCallum, MI5 director general, highlighted in a rare public speech the threat Iran poses to Britain’s national security, warning of the possibility of further acts of violence on UK soil, should government officials fail to address Iran’s evergrowing belligerence.
He said: “Iran projects threat to the UK directly, through its aggressive intelligence services. At its sharpest, this includes ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime. We have seen at least 10 such potential threats since January alone.”
The appointed guardians of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s revolutionary project, IRGC’s mandate extends well beyond the borders of Iran – a tentacular organisation whose main ambition has been to buy new minds and new arms to the regime’s ideology, more often than not through covert and illegal means.
Britain’s decision to outlaw IRGC marks a clear shift in policy towards the Islamic Republic – proof Iranians have said that Tehran is all but losing ground before the inevitability of its people’s calls for change.