Information received by Iran International Monday [December 14] from reliable sources indicate that the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee is going to recommend “proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” (IRGC).

The Committee has reached the conclusion that Iran’s primary military and intelligence organization, the IRGC also known as the Revolutionary Guards meet the criteria for proscription according to the Terrorism Act 2000, which since the September 11, 2001 attacks has been mainly used against Islamic extremist groups.

The reasons cited by Iran International’s sources for banning the IRGC are its “clear and enduring support for terrorists and non-state actors working to undermine stability in the region.” The IRGC was also sanctioned by the United States in 2017, along with hundreds of individuals, institutions and companies believed to be affiliated or working with the powerful organization. The EU has also placed restrictions on members of the Revolutionary Guards.

To what extent proscribing the IRGC by the British Parliament will have practical consequences or will be followed by specific actions against affiliated entities is not clear yet. Several British citizens who have been arbitrarily arrested and jailed in Iran are believed to have been targeted by IRGC’s Intelligence Organization, that operates without impunity in Iran and in some areas of regional countries.

“The IRGC’s philosophy and malign actions within Iran and across the region run counter to the interests of the UK and those of the Iranian people,” the Foreign Affairs Committee is expected to argue in recommending IRGC’s proscription by parliament.

Many regional and Western countries regard the Revolutionary Guards as the tool the Islamic Republic uses to spread its military and political influence in the region with the aim of destabilizing governments and strengthening militant groups. The IRGC then uses the emerging instability to expand its influence more easily, critics say.

IRGC’s main regional operative, Qods (Quds) Force commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in January in Baghdad by a US air attack. Last month, another high-level Revolutionary Guards operative Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in Tehran by unknown attackers who have not been identified.

The Committee will also recommend that the Foreign Secretary works with the Home Secretary to assess the available information on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with a view to laying an order before Parliament to proscribe the IRGC in its entirety, our sources indicate.