Letter to the Prime Minister from the British- Iranian Community and Our Allies
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is no longer a distant threat. It directly threatens the United Kingdom’s national security and challenges its stated commitment to human rights.
We, members of the Iranian community and our allies in the United Kingdom, write to urge the Government to act with clarity and resolve, and beyond existing sanctions, which have demonstrably failed to deter the regime’s conduct.
First, the IRGC must be formally proscribed in its entirety as terrorists, whether under the Terrorism Act 2000 or under new legislation that can no longer be delayed. It functions as the principal instrument of repression within Iran and is responsible for transnational intimidation, surveillance, and hostile operations beyond its borders, including activity affecting the UK British-Iranians, journalists, activists and dissidents have been subject to credible threats linked to IRGC affiliated networks. The recent arson attack on Jewish charity ambulances in Golders Green, currently under counter terrorism investigation, alongside wider reporting of Islamic Republic regime linked hostile activity, point to an escalating pattern of concern. The Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile launches targeting the UK–US base at Diego Garcia further demonstrate the regime’s reach and intent against British strategic assets.
Proscription would provide essential legal tools to disrupt these networks, strengthen enforcement, protect communities, and reduce the risk of the UK being exploited as an operating or safe environment for individuals and entities linked to a hostile state apparatuspost the collapse of the Islamic Republic.
Second, this is a struggle for Iran, not against it.For 47 years, the Iranian people have pursued reform and peaceful protest, from the 1999 student uprising to the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, only to face systematic repression, including mass arrests, torture, executions and violence.
Most recently, security forces massacred tens of thousands of innocent Iranians in just two days of mass shootings across multiple cities during the 2025–2026 uprising against the Islamic Republic regime. Peaceful change under this regime has proven impossible.
Continued engagement of the United Kingdom with Islamic Republic representatives, particularly without parallel accountability measures, risks undermining the United Kingdom’s stated human rights commitments. Diplomatic engagement has been sustained over decades without altering the regime’s behaviour. The Islamic Republic regime in its entirety is rejected by the Iranian people.
Third, the United Kingdom must engage with the legitimate opposition leader, Prince Reza Pahlavi, to transition Iran to a secular, democratic nation.
He is the unifying figure for the majorityfor the majority of Iranians, having advocated for 47 years for a secular and democratic future for Iran. The Iran Prosperity Project, led by Prince Reza Pahlavi and subject-matter experts across key sectors, sets out a clear roadmap for stabilisation, continuity of essential state functions, economic recovery, and the building of constructive international relationships, culminating in a national referendum that allows the Iranian people to freely choose their system of government.
Fourth, Iran will not become “another Iraq or Afghanistan.” Unlike those cases, where change was driven by external military intervention, the current organic movement in Iran began internally driven and sustained, at immense cost, by the Iranian people.
Iran does not face a leadership vacuum. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, power was ultimately consolidated around dominant actors such as the Taliban. In Iran, by contrast, a widely recognised opposition figure, Prince Reza Pahlavi.
Unlike Iraq or Afghanistan, Iran benefits from an existing expert-led transition framework in the Iran Prosperity Project.
The role of the international community is therefore not to impose an outcome, but to support a credible, Iranian-led transition, while ensuring that the Iranian people themselves determine their future through a democratic referendum.
We therefore urge the Government to:
Enact emergency legislation to proscribe the IRGC as a state actor terrorist organisation.
Strengthen domestic protections against IRGC-linked threats and hostile activities of the regime or its proxies in the UK.
Publicly affirm the Iranian people’s right to determine their own future.
Engage with Prince Reza Pahlavi, transitional leader of a secular, democratic Iran.
The United Kingdom has long stood for liberty, the rule of law, and protection from state violence.
This is the moment to uphold those principles with clarity and consistency.
Yours sincerely,
Countersigned by over two Thousand British Iranians and Allies.*
*For Security, we are not publishing the names publicaly.