TEHRAN –UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly says the UK has sanctioned the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) “in its entirety.”

“The IRGC is sanctioned by the UK in its entirety,” Cleverly said on Twitter.

He posted a video featuring him speaking on the situation in Iran and how the UK responded to what is happening in the country.

“Because of their international and domestic actions, we are having a lot. We’re working to the JCPOA to try and prevent them acquiring nuclear weapons. We are sanctioning the morality police and sanctioning the judges…. W have sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety,” he said.

The British minister has spoken of sanctioning the IRGC within the context of what he called protests in Iran. In earlier remarks at a UK Parliament debate on Iran, Cleverly had described the “protests” in Iran as a “watershed moment” and accused the Iranian government of using violence in putting them down.  

“The UK is committed to holding Iran to account, including with more than 300 sanctions—including the sanctioning of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its entirety. We will continue to work with partners to challenge the regime’s aggression at home and its disruptive behavior in the region,” he said at the time.

The UK sanctions against the whole IRGC appear to have been imposed without an official announcement.

In early December, the UK slapped sanctions against 10 Iranian individuals in connection with so-called human rights violations. This included six individuals linked to the IRGC. But the UK did not say at the time that the IRGC is sanctioned in its entirety.

The United States imposed sanctions against the IRGC in its entirety in 2019 within the maximum pressure policy of the Trump administration.

Relations between Tehran and London have deteriorated in the last few months over a range of issues, including the unrest in Iran and British accusations against Iran regarding the alleged provision of drones to Russia to name a few.