Iran’s overnight warning to the US of “everlasting consequences” after renewed military action suggests a prolonged campaign, likely to rely on covert networks already seen in the UK and elsewhere.
As the conflict with Iran widens, there are growing concerns the US and Israel may be fuelling the very threat they intended to contain.
Tehran appears geared for sustained confrontation, not short-term retaliation, raising doubts about whether continued military pressure will deter the threat at all — or simply broaden it.
Some analysts argue the opposite may already be happening. Confrontation can strengthen the IRGC, reinforcing its narrative as the defender of the Islamic system, consolidating support at home and justifying a wider use of its networks abroad.
That reflects the nature of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) itself — a force shaped as much by ideology as by military strategy.
The threat at home — and a growing political debate
Britain’s security services have tracked more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-linked plots over a 12-month period, many targeting dissidents and critics of Tehran living in the UK.
Britain has not formally banned the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, despite repeated cross-party calls — and the case for doing so is strengthening.
Concern about Iran-linked activity on UK soil is feeding into a live debate in Westminster.
The US has gone further, designating the IRGC as a terrorist organisation and applying sweeping sanctions to isolate it.
The UK has so far resisted taking the same step, citing legal complexity, diplomatic considerations and the risk to British nationals detained in Iran.
The UK response — and what many may have missed
The UK has taken steps to respond, though many of the measures taken are not widely known.
The Government has placed Iran on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, requiring those acting for the regime to declare links or face prosecution.
Sanctions have been imposed. Plots disrupted. But Parliament’s intelligence watchdog warns the overall approach has been shaped by “crisis management” rather than long-term strategy.
These plots are not just the work of a hostile state. They are the outward edge of a system built to defend and project a religious revolution.
That helps explain why the threat from Iran is proving so persistent and difficult to contain, even as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran continues to escalate.
At the core of these networks is the IRGC.
The IRGC – not a conventional military
The IRGC was created in 1979 to enforce Ayatollah Khomeini’s vision of an Islamic state based on rule by a supreme religious leader. Rooted in a particular interpretation of Shia Islam, its doctrine treats political power as a religious duty to defend and advance the Islamic system.
It was never designed to function like a normal army. It exists to protect that system and extend its influence. Answering directly to the Supreme Leader, it fuses religion, politics and force into a single structure.
The IRGC is no longer just a military force. It has become embedded across the Iranian state, shaping security, politics and the machinery of government itself.
Rather than replacing the clerical leadership, it has fused with it, turning ideological authority into an instrument of state power.
The issue is not the faith itself, but how it has been reshaped — with religious doctrine transformed into a tool of state power, often at odds with the principles of compassion it claims to uphold.
Why it represses — and why it operates abroad
Inside Iran, the IRGC has been central to violent crackdowns on protests, treating dissent as a threat to a system seen as divinely ordained.
Outside Iran, the same logic applies.
Its doctrine is built on promoting its revolutionary model and countering Western influence, often through covert operations and proxy networks rather than open war. That is the context for activity in Europe, including Britain.
Surveillance, intimidation and alleged plots are not isolated incidents. They are part of a longer-term strategy.
What that means for Britain
For the UK, the implication is clear: this is not a threat that disappears with a ceasefire. It is structural, persistent and, as the regime becomes more militarised, potentially harder to contain.
Britain may be getting better at stopping Iranian plots. But the bigger question is whether it is willing to go further – particularly as allies such as the US have already designated the IRGC a terrorist organisation.
With pressure mounting in Westminster and beyond, the question is no longer just about whether Iran poses a threat, but whether Britain is willing to confront a regime that uses religious ideology as a tool of power – often at odds with the compassion central to Shia Islam and other faith traditions – and whose reach extends beyond its own borders.
Even if the IRGC is weakened militarily, its networks and worldview will endure.
You can strike the IRGC.
But you cannot easily remove it.
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