LONDON — The British government revealed Monday that a proxy group operating under Iran’s direction was responsible for a string of arson and vandalism attacks targeting Jewish locations across the United Kingdom.
Officials announced they are outlawing the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, also known as IMCR or Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, in response to the attacks. The government is also moving to ban Iran’s powerful paramilitary force, the Revolutionary Guard, citing it as a threat to national security.
Once Parliament passes the supporting legislation — which the government expects to happen by the end of this week — anyone who carries out sabotage on behalf of these organizations could face a sentence of up to life in prison.
Security Minister Angela Eagle stated that the IMCR has claimed credit for seven attacks on British soil. The group posted online taking responsibility for multiple arson incidents at Jewish sites in London over recent months, including fires set at synagogues and Jewish charity ambulances, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media outlet that had been critical of Iran’s government. No injuries were reported in any of the fires.
“Sitting behind IMCR were members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force, who almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe,” Eagle said. The Quds, or Jerusalem, Force serves as the Guard’s overseas operations unit.
The IMCR emerged online earlier this year and has also taken credit for attacks on synagogues in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Law enforcement officials and intelligence analysts have noted that Iran-backed proxy groups are increasingly responsible for attacks throughout Europe, with most incidents aimed at Jewish communities and Persian-language media outlets that oppose Iran’s Islamic government. These groups typically recruit members of criminal organizations to execute acts of sabotage and other hostile activities.
Also announced Monday, British authorities said they are designating the GRU Volunteer Corps — a group under the control of Russia’s military intelligence agency — as a national security threat. According to officials, the group conducts foreign intelligence gathering and covert hostile operations on behalf of Russian military intelligence.
The new measures are intended to make it easier for police and intelligence services to go after what authorities are calling “thugs for hire” — individuals who carry out work for these proxy organizations.
“We have already taken tough action against the Iranian regime and those linked to it, and against Russian operatives and networks targeting our country. These new powers will make it easier to prosecute and lock up anyone carrying out their dirty work here in Britain,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.
The bans are being implemented under a new UK law that took effect last week, which gives the government expanded authority to act against proxy organizations conducting hostile activities on behalf of foreign states.
Earlier this month, two Romanian men were sentenced to prison for stabbing a journalist from a Persian-language television station — an attack the presiding judge said was carried out on behalf of the Iranian state.
Iran had not issued any comment in response to the announcements as of Monday.
The European Union designated the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization back in January, following Iran’s violent crackdown on domestic protests.
