UK Bans Iran-Linked Group Over Synagogue Attacks, Targets Revolutionary Guard

Britain has banned an Iranian proxy group blamed for a series of arson and vandalism attacks on Jewish sites, the government announced on Monday, while also designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a national security threat, AP reported.

The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, known as IMCR or Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, has claimed seven attacks in the UK, according to Security Minister Angela Eagle. These included fires at synagogues and Jewish charity ambulances in London, along with an assault on a Persian-language media outlet critical of Tehran. No one was injured. Once Parliament approves the legislation, expected by the end of the week, carrying out sabotage on behalf of the group or the Revolutionary Guard will carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Quds Force link

Eagle said intelligence pointed directly to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, specifically its Quds Force expeditionary unit, as the force behind IMCR's operations. She said the unit had almost certainly directed the group's attacks across Europe. IMCR emerged online earlier this year and has also claimed synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands. Officials and intelligence analysts say Iran-backed proxy networks are increasingly active across Europe, often recruiting members of existing criminal groups to carry out sabotage, with Jewish communities and Persian-language media critical of Iran's government the most frequent targets.

Russian network also designated

Alongside the Iran-linked bans, the UK designated the GRU Volunteer Corps, a group tied to Russia's military intelligence agency, as a national security threat, citing its role in intelligence gathering and covert hostile activity on Britain's behalf of the GRU. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the new powers would make it easier to prosecute what he called those doing Iran and Russia's "dirty work" on British soil, pointing to earlier action already taken against Iranian-linked individuals and Russian operatives.

The bans fall under legislation targeting foreign state proxy groups that came into force last week. Earlier this month, two Romanian men were jailed over the stabbing of a journalist from a Persian-language broadcaster, an attack a judge said had been carried out on behalf of the Iranian state. Iran has not commented on Monday's announcement. The Revolutionary Guard was separately designated a terrorist organisation by the European Union in January over Tehran's crackdown on protesters.