On Monday morning, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as an illegal organization, making support for it a criminal offense. For years, despite growing calls to declassify the Iranian state-sponsored terrorist group, successive governments failed to act. The Labour Party promised to do so in its 2024 election manifesto. Now, two years into his term and just six days before leaving Downing Street, he has finally taken action. Opponents question why Starmer took so long to take this step and whether he is only acting now to consolidate some political legacy. While Starmer will likely receive praise for the ban, Labour insiders revealed that it was Foreign Secretary Robert Cooper who truly pushed for the change, working with Home Secretary Mahmoud despite opposition from officials.
Some within the Labour Party have long argued that refusing to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, like allies such as the United States, the European Union, Canada, and Australia, stems from arrogance within the British Foreign Office. Meanwhile, the argument that "banning the Revolutionary Guard will anger the United States" was challenged in May. Conservative Party member and former Security Secretary Tom Tugendhat criticized the move, saying, "The reasons for banning the organization have been obvious for years, yet the government has hesitated. Jonathan Hall's barrister has written a special report on the legal path to banning the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. However, this report has yet to receive a response." Reform Party MP Robert Jenrick, a former Home Secretary in a Conservative government, said that Conservative prime ministers who accepted the argument that "Britain cannot damage its relationship with Iran" are "pathetically weak." Starmer has now done what they didn't, and he knows that any diplomatic consequences will be handled by the next prime minister, Andy Burnham.
