Britain: New Law Against IRGC Will Not Include Conscripts
Britain’s senior legal adviser announced: “The country’s new law against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will not include men who have completed their mandatory military service in IRGC units.” According to him, this legal framework is designed to counter activities attributed to the Iranian government on British soil and distinguishes between mandatory membership and voluntary cooperation.
An independent adviser to the British government on laws related to terrorism and state threats has emphasized that the country’s new law against the IRGC will not include individuals who served in IRGC units due to mandatory military service.
“Jonathan Hall,” who conducted a review of the new legal framework for countering state threats for the British government, explained that the law’s design took into account the distinction between mandatory membership in a state institution and voluntary membership in an organization.
Hall stated: “The question of mandatory service had a significant impact on my assessment of this law.” He added that in laws related to terrorist organizations, membership can be considered a crime because people typically join or remain in such organizations by choice. However, this logic does not apply to individuals who are conscripted by law to serve in a state institution.
The British legal expert also stated: “Obviously, such an approach would not be fair for someone who has no choice in joining a state institution.”
In response to the question of whether the new law covers Iranian men who completed their military service in IRGC units, he clarified: “The answer is that this law does not include them in any way.”
Hall also emphasized that the primary motivation for the British government to create this legal framework was the increase in activities attributed to the Islamic Republic on British soil. According to him, security reports concerning Iran-attributed schemes and the use of intermediaries to carry out actions such as surveillance, intimidation, or attacks against opponents, journalists, and other targets in Britain prompted the government to establish a new legal tool.
The British government this week designated the IRGC as one of the first institutions covered by the “State Threats Act,” a law that allows for the criminal prosecution of individuals who knowingly support or assist the activities of this institution in Britain, rather than listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization. This new framework was drafted to counter threats attributed to foreign governments, including espionage, sabotage, and proxy operations.
