IRGC - has the UK determined they are a terrorist organisation?

The US seem to have taken more of a zero-tolerance approach to terrorist groups than the UK. This approach to terrorism is one of the few things I hope we copy them on.

In a related story, media sources such as the BBC & Telegraph reporting today that Palestine Action has been declared a global terrorist organisation by the US.

The protest group has been added to a list that includes Hamas, al-Qaeda and Islamic State, meaning supporters face a lifetime ban from entering the US.

US officials said that by promoting its “acts of terrorism” on social media, Palestine Action encouraged others to copy its tactics overseas, including in America. It is the first known case of a British Left-wing activist group being subjected to US counter-terrorism sanctions.

Under the new measures, Palestine Action’s assets in the US, including bank accounts and property, are being frozen, and Americans are banned from doing business with the group.

The sanctions also prohibit people from giving funds, goods or services to Palestine Action, effectively cutting it off from the global financial system.

Britons who continue to fund the organisation or take part in protests could themselves face harsh sanctions and visa bans, The Telegraph understands. They also risk being unable to open a bank account or get a mortgage.

Under the sanctions, Richard Barnard and Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine Action in the UK in July 2020 and are British citizens, face lifetime bans from the US.

The move follows the UK Government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton and damaged military aircraft in June 2025.

www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/08/26/palestine-action-usa-proscribed-terror-group-donald-trump/

Anyway ...Britain formally designated Iran’s IRGC as a threat to national security last Friday, making public support for the organization or assistance to it punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The designations took effect on July 17 after Parliament approved an order submitted by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood four days earlier.

Hopefully people have the ability to understand the facts irrespective of the Guardian

You've got me there. Words do matter.

Hopefully we agree that whatever exact wording is used, the most important thing is that the UK bans the IRGC as a national security threat and creates new criminal offences for people who support or promote it.

I don’t agree words don’t matter
I do understand why you say that though and that’s your right of course

Had they been proscribed I am guessing you’d be saying the same as me now.

Lets face it Twigs
words matter when people talk about Israel committing a genocide

so
Cant have it both ways

But frankly @Stirabout I don't really care what exact wording is used as long as the end result is the same.

We definitely interpret the same information differently because I would say they have decided the IRGC is a terrorist organisation.

The Guardian says The UK will list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.

Middle East Eye says that the UK has effectively banned Iran's IRGC as a national security threat.

International law means that, as a state entity, the IRGC cannot officially be banned by another country. But it's semantics in my opinion to quibble over the wording when the end result is that offenders will get up to 14 years in prison for supporting or promoting the IRGC. The length of the sentence show how dangerous the IRGC are considered to be now in the UK due to IRGC activity that is prejudicial to the UK.

You would Twiglets
That's what you want

Doesnt make it so

If You're prepared to hang around and wait for official notification re genocide against Israel it
works both ways

You, I , everyone interested has waited for the U.K. on the IRGC and they have decided
to not declare it as a terrorist organisation

Job done

I agree that it is not identical to proscription. However I do believe that it's very similar or possibly equivalent to proscription. We will be able to study the bill in more depth when it is approved by Parliament later this week.

The end result will be new criminal offences for people who support or promote the IRGC or the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR), or the volunteer corps of Russia's GRU.

A good thing for UK society.

It’s not the same at all

The headliner from the Guardian when googling states they are to be proscribed as terrorists
Thats Guardian speak to grab attention
when you actually read whats going on the
UK are doing no such thing
GB news has the same misleading propaganda headliner too

The U.K. are not making the proscription

And I do think you are rather underplaying it by comparing it to being put on the "naughty list".

Naughty is one thing.

A maximum 14 years prison term for supporting or promoting the IRGC is another.

No but as the Guardian says, the move is equivalent to proscription, though not legally identical.

Proscribing them as a terrorist organisation isn’t whats going to Parliament later this week

If they regularly fund and support terrorist action in other countries (which they do) they are terrorists. The fact that they are also holding Iran hostage is neither jere not there imo, the key point is terrorist activities in the UK.

And from the Guardian:

The Home Office said on Monday it would ban support for the IRGC, a central branch of the Iranian military, after years of political division over the issue. The move is equivalent to proscription, though not legally identical.

From Reuters

The new powers, similar to proscription, seek to close a gap in existing laws around state-linked actors and make it illegal to show support for those groups.

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-proscribes-irans-irgc-terrorist-organisation-sky-news-reports-2026-07-13/

It is imminent @Stirabout it's likely to be approved by Parliament later this week and then those conducting acts of sabotage including arson on behalf of these groups could face life imprisonment.

From your source: Two other groups are also being proscribed

and yet the IRGC have not been proscribed as a terrorist organisation

Despite previous posts stating it was imminent

They've basically Been put on the naughty list
and tbh I’m amazed they and many others weren’t already
This allows for swifter prosecutions

BBC
‘ Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be designated a threat to national security.

Two other groups are also being proscribed, the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR), and the volunteer corps of Russia's GRU (foreign military intelligence agency).

New powers will be given to police and intelligence agencies to tackle espionage, foreign interference, sabotage and physical attacks from these groups.

If approved by Parliament later this week, those conducting acts of sabotage including arson on behalf of these groups could face life imprisonment.

The change means prosecutors will no longer need to establish a foreign power connection in every case, making it easier and more straightforward to build cases’

Designating the IRGC as a terrorist group is highly unlikely. They are intertwined with the Iranian Govn and any designation would make it almost impossible to deal with the country
It would risk the complete severing of ties and the expulsion of the UK ambassador in Tehran

It would risk closing off diplomatic channels entirely, undermining attempts to revive or replace the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA).

It would severely complicate all trade and legal financial transactions involving Iran, increasing compliance risks for British businesses

Essentially the U.K. are keeping Diplomatic channels open with Iran

Keir Starmer will ban the IRGC as a national security threat under new powers fast tracked through Parliament. The new powers will allow the Government to label state-backed groups as terrorist organisations.

Announcing the bans to Parliament, Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, said the UK had “identified activity linked to the IRGC involving threats to life and intimidation on UK soil.”

The powers create new criminal offences for people who support or promote groups formally listed as state-supported threats.

Breaching the new law could lead to a maximum 14 years in prison. Or life imprisonment if an individual engages in spying, sabotage or foreign interference on behalf of banned groups.

The government has also proscribed a group called the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right(IMCR), which is linked to Iran.

Source:The Telegraph.