The British government on Monday accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of almost certainly directing a wave of attacks against Jews across Europe and took steps to designate the powerful security apparatus as a terrorist organization.
The decision gives the government additional national security powers to prevent terrorist attacks and foreign threats under a new law.
The move is part of Britain’s push to forcefully call out the Iranian threat to the U.K, The Guards Corps has traditionally targeted critics of the Iranian regime but took a more ominous and violent turn after the start of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
An Iranian proxy called the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right targeted Jewish communities, journalists and Israeli interests in the United Kingdom and across Europe during a two-month stretch from March to May. It claimed responsibility for seven attacks in the U.K.
The government also designated the Iranian proxy and an arm of Russian military intelligence using the new law. The U.K. has previously sanctioned the I.R.G.C.
The decision to label them terrorist groups comes after federal prosecutors in New York in May charged a commander of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia that is a proxy for the Guards Corps and has helped Tehran project power across the region.
The complaint accused Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi of planning at least 20 attacks against U.S. and Israeli interests in Europe and Canada since late February. Mr. al-Saadi was detained in Turkey and handed over to U.S. authorities.
The U.K. implicated the Guard Corps’ Qods Force in the attacks. The Qods Force is an elite unit known for its shadowy operations across the Middle East.
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