Reps. Sherman, Tenney, Lawler Lead Bipartisan Push for UK to Designate IRGC as a Terrorist Organization
WASHINGTON DC – Today, Middle East North Africa Subcommittee Ranking Member Brad Sherman (CA-32), Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) and Middle East North Africa Subcommittee Chairman Michael Lawler (NY-17) led a bipartisan letter urging the government of the United Kingdom (UK) to fast-track long overdue legislation proscribing the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
The letter was signed by a total of 20 bipartisan Members, including Representatives Don Bacon (NE-02), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Mike Carey (OH-15), Earl “Buddy” Carter (GA-01), Jim Costa (CA-21), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Thomas Kean, Jr. (NJ-07), Mike Levin (CA-49), Grace Meng (NY-06), Dave Min (CA-47), Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Christopher Smith (NJ-04), Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), (Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25).
“Every day the British Parliament fails to vote on this legislation is another day that the IRGC evades the full impact of our nations’ combined sanctions,” said Congressman Sherman. “The IRGC has waged terrorism around the world for decades, and earlier this year murdered some 30,000 Iranian protesters. The UK must stand with the Iranian people and join the United States in designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization.”
“The IRGC is one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations and has the blood of innocent civilians, Americans, and dissidents on its hands,” said Congresswoman Tenney. “The Iranian regime continues to export terrorism, threaten our allies, and brutally suppress its own people through the IRGC and its proxy networks. The United Kingdom should immediately join the United States and our allies in formally proscribing the IRGC as a terrorist organization and send a clear message that the Western world will not tolerate terrorism, political violence, or antisemitic attacks.”
“The Iranian people have shown extraordinary courage in standing up to a brutal regime that uses the IRGC to suppress dissent at home and export terror abroad. The United Kingdom should move without further delay to formally proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization and stand in solidarity with the thousands of innocent Iranians who have risked and, in many cases, lost their lives in pursuit of freedom. The United States and our allies must remain united in applying maximum pressure on the Iranian regime and holding the IRGC accountable for its violence, repression, and destabilizing activities around the world,” said Congressman Mike Lawler.
Recognizing the threat the IRGC posed, the United States designated it a terrorist organization in 2019. Canada followed suit in 2024, Australia in 2025, and the European Union in February of this year.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a leading state sponsor of terror. The IRGC is integral to the Islamic Republic’s overseas operations and has committed violent terrorist acts, cyberattacks, surveillance operations, and targeted assassinations throughout the Middle East and around the world.
This all comes in addition to the IRGC’s brutal repression of the Iranian people. including its murder of an estimated 30,000 Iranians during protests earlier this year.
Congress is united in calling on the UK to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. The UK can still stand on the right side of history and immediately proscribe the IRGC to end their impunity in committing atrocities around the world.
Read the text of the letter here.
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