Starmer refuses to ban Iran's IRGC as 'terror army' as death toll rises in crackdown on protesters

The Government has faced calls to "add pressure" on Iran after the US said over the weekend it was "obvious" the IRGC was a terror group.

More than 500 protesters have been killed during the country's mass demonstrations after a close-range shoot-to-kill policy was enforced by authorities.

However, Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, confirmed that Number 10 would not proscribe the IRGC and said that the "full extent” of sanctions had already been used against Tehran.

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The rising death toll is part of the regime’s efforts to crush the protests, which initially erupted due to rampant inflation.

Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA), a US-based group, has said it has verified the deaths of 496 protesters and 48 security personnel.

Mr Kyle said the Government had carried out an independent review into terror laws to look into it "deeply."

He said the review came back stating the proscribing of a foreign state organisation "isn't appropriate" in the same way a domestic organisation can be.

"Let me be very clear about this, the state has a fundamental duty to protect those protesting," he told Times Radio.

"We are all thinking very, very deeply about those people in Iran affected by the response of the Iranian government. They must allow the space for protest to unfold."

He added: "You can see we’ve already used the sanctions against Iran to the full extent we can."

Donald Trump designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organisation during his first term in April 2019 but Labour has so far resisted calls to proscribe the group.

The banning would make it illegal to belong to or support for it, on the grounds that doing so could end ties with Tehran.

Mr Trump is said he is considering military action in Iran, adding that Iranian leaders have contacted the US to "negotiate" after he first made the threats last week.

When asked if Iran had crossed his "red line" of protesters being killed, the President said: "They're starting to, it looks like."

The protests have entered their third week which are seen as the most serious threat to the Iranian regime since 2019.

Doctors treating the injured have reported an increase in protesters being shot in the head and neck, often at close range, with live ammunition.

Among those killed include Rubina Aminian, 23, who died on Thursday after joining a protest in the capital of Tehran, having spent the day studying at Shariati College.

The protests were sparked in late December by soaring inflation, and have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across every province in Iran.

The Conservatives also faced calls to ban IRGC under their reign but ministers argued that because it was an integral part of the Iranian state, doing so would likely lead to Tehran cutting off all diplomatic ties.

More than 1,000 protesters previously gathered in Whitehall, London, where they called for "Iranian freedom" and calling on the Government to proscribe the IRGC.