Label Iran’s guards as terrorists, says Labour
LABOUR called on ministers yesterday to proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group.
The Government is considering the move after the execution of Alireza Akbari, a British-Iranian dual national who was lured back to Iran by the security services three years ago.
He had moved to the UK with an investment visa and had become a naturalised citizen here.
But the ex- deputy Iranian defence minister was arrested in 2019 and convicted of spying for the UK. He denied the charge.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his execution was a ‘callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime’.
Ministers have imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on the Iranian prosecutor general, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has also temporarily withdrawn Britain’s ambassador to Iran, Simon Shercliff.
But Shadow Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, and Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, urged ministers to go further and faster.
Their joint statement said: ‘The Iranian regime’s actions against courageous protestors seeking a better future, as well as British nationals imprisoned in Iran and its threats to UK security mean robust action is needed now.
‘The IRGC is behaving like a terrorist organisation and must now be proscribed as such.