Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the current protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, if the Government will take steps to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.

Whilst the UK Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.

The death of Mahsa Amini is a shocking reminder of the repression faced by women in Iran. The UK condemns the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on protestors, journalists and internet freedom. The use of violence in response to the expression of fundamental rights, by women or any other members of Iranian society, is wholly unjustifiable.

On the 10^th October, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced sanctions on senior security and political figures in Iran and the Morality Police. The Morality Police has been sanctioned in its entirety, as well as both its chief, Mohammed Rostami Cheshmeh Gachi and the Head of the Tehran Division Haj Ahmed Mirzaei. Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Basij force, who is responsible for internal security in Iran has also been subject to sanctions for committing serious human rights violations.