U.K. says an Iran-backed group was behind attacks on Jewish community, bans Revolutionary Guard

The U.K. government has banned the Iran-backed Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right (IMCR) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps following a series of arson attacks on Jewish sites. Officials state that the IMCR acted as a proxy for the Revolutionary Guard to conduct sabotage across Europe.
Why it matters
The escalation of state-sponsored proxy attacks against religious communities in Europe represents a significant shift in international security and geopolitical tensions.
A series of arson and vandalism attacks on Jewish sites in Britain was the work of a proxy group backed by Iran, the U.K. government said Monday. The government said it is banning the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, or IMCR, also known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia. It also banned Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. In a statement, Security Minister Angela Eagle said that the IMCR has claimed seven attacks in the U.K. The group had said online that it was responsible for a string of arson attacks on Jewish sites in London in recent months, including fires at synagogues and Jewish charity ambulances, as well as a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government. No one was injured in the blazes.
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