An Iranian journalist who was stabbed outside his home in London has joined calls for the UK to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
Pouria Zeraati, who works for the London-based broadcaster Iran International, was stabbed in the leg by three unknown individuals in Wimbledon on 29 March. Police believe the three attackers have fled the country.
When asked whether the UK should proscribe the IRGC, Zeraati told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Yes … the fact is that what happened to me is not the first incident we are seeing on British soil and on European soil.”
Ministers are facing growing cross-party pressure to ban the IRGC, one of the most powerful paramilitary groups in the Middle East, after the Iranian assault on Israel over the weekend, when Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles after Israel had attacked its diplomatic compound in Damascus.
Zeraati said the IRGC had long been trying to “destabilise the peace and prosperity” of the Middle East, adding: “Killing people outside Iran, taking US citizens, British citizens, European citizens as hostage … and all the other activities they have, it shows that they can be considered as a terrorist organisation, but the fact that the UK and European Union haven’t decided yet, I think it’s totally politically motivated.”
There have been growing concerns in the UK after the government revealed earlier this year that at least 15 threats had been made by the Iranian regime to intimidate or kill British nationals or UK-linked individuals since 2022.
Although investigations are ongoing, Iran’s charge d’affaires in the UK, Mehdi Hosseini Matin, has denied “any link” to the attack on Zeraati in March.
Iranian activists living in the UK told the Guardian that the government’s refusal to proscribe the IRGC was “weak” and they feared for their safety.
The IRGC was set up 40 years ago to defend Iran’s Islamic system and has become a major military, police and economic force in the country. Saman Rasoulpour, an Iranian journalist based in London and a former editor at Iran International, said the Islamic Republic’s intent was to “suppress our voices”.
He said: “A number of my journalistic colleagues based in London have been subjected to threats. My partner and my colleague Sima Sabet narrowly escaped a potentially fatal incident. Consequently, we have been forced to alter our lifestyles significantly.”
The Iranian regime previously declared Iran International, a Farsi-language dissident channel, as a “terrorist organisation”. Rasoulpour added: “My inquiry to the British government is as follows: have your diplomatic channels been effective? The answer is no. Have they halted the Islamic Republic’s actions? Again, no.”
Government ministers have resisted calls to ban the group, arguing it could sever the UK’s diplomatic link with Tehran. Laura Farris, a Home Office minister, told LBC: “We’re not for a second defending the IRGC. We’re simply saying that maintaining that channel with Tehran at this moment in time is, at present, in our national interest.”
Mahsa Piraei, an Iranian living in Leeds, said she had been calling on the UK to proscribe the IRGC since her 62-year-old mother, Minoo Majidi, was shot during protests in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini. She said: “They are dangerous for the region, for the Middle Eastern countries, because they support terrorist groups like Isis and Hamas.”
Piraei said she did not feel safe in the UK, adding: “If I have activities against the regime, they can attack you anywhere.”
Vahid Beheshti, an Iranian activist who has been organising a sit-in protest outside the Foreign Office for more than 400 days, also criticised the government’s position.
“All our actions are sending the wrong signal to this regime and that signal is this: We are not determined at all to stop any of your activities,” he said.
A government spokesperson said it would “continue to work together to identify, deter and respond to threats from Iran”, adding: “The UK has sanctioned more than 400 Iranian individuals and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in its entirety.”
