The British government announced Monday that a series of arson and vandalism attacks targeting Jewish sites across the UK were orchestrated by an Iranian-backed proxy group.
In response, the UK proscribed the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right (IMCR), also known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, alongside Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Security Minister Angela Eagle stated that the IMCR has claimed responsibility for seven attacks in the UK. The group asserted online that it carried out a string of arson attacks on Jewish sites in London in recent months, targeting synagogues, Jewish charity ambulances, and a Persian-language media outlet critical of the Iranian government. No injuries were reported in the incidents.
“Operatives from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe,” Eagle said, referring to the Guard’s expeditionary unit.
The group emerged online earlier this year and has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Law enforcement and intelligence experts warn that Iranian-backed proxy groups are behind a rising number of attacks in Europe, predominantly targeting Jewish communities and Persian-language media outlets critical of Tehran.
These proxies typically operate by recruiting criminal networks to execute sabotage and violent attacks.
Earlier this month, two Romanian nationals were sentenced to prison for the stabbing of a journalist from a Persian-language television station—an attack the presiding judge determined was carried out on behalf of the Iranian state.
Iran did not immediately comment on the designations.
The move aligns with the European Union’s January decision to list the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist entity following Tehran’s violent crackdown on protests.
