An Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked channel has issued calls for jihad targeting London and a string of other Western and Asian cities, as the fallout from the US-Israel war with Iran reaches British soil.
The chilling threat surfaced days before Sir Keir Starmer reversed course and gave Washington limited permission to operate from the Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands for "defensive-only" strikes against Iranian weapons installations — a decision that left Trump publicly unimpressed, describing it as "very disappointing" while drawing fire from critics at home too.
Hours after US and Israeli forces killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, a Telegram channel that routinely broadcasts IRGC content in English began carrying direct incitement. A user identifying as "Enemy Watch — Official" reportedly wrote: "When you are no longer alive yourself, there is no reason to live — it is the time for jihad."
Supporters across Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan and Shia communities worldwide were told to "rise" and "burn the embassies and assets" of the group's enemiesin messages reviewed by GB News. Cities singled out in a follow-up message included London, Berlin, Paris and Toronto, alongside Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Lucknow, Mumbai and Kashmir.
Reporters were alerted to the posts by Facts4EU, a think tank with longstanding ties to US intelligence networks. The material itself was sourced by MEMRI, a Washington-based organisation that tracks extremist online activity, states the report.
The posts have poured fuel on demands for the government to formally designate the IRGC a terrorist organisation — demands that were already growing following the killing of protesters in January and the wave of Iranian strikes that have since battered the region.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told GB News: "In my view, we should definitely proscribe, that's to say ban, the IRGC, which is a band of murderous thugs that essentially control Iran on behalf of the Ayatollahs, but they also export terrorism around the world.
"They're the ones who support the terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. They have also sponsored repression here on our own soil in the UK and terrorist plots."
The jihad call lands as the broader conflict continues to spiral. American and Israeli forces have struck thousands of military and political targets inside Iran, with Tehran hitting back by unleashing hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones against nine countries across the Middle East and beyond.
