U.S. Should Parallel U.K. Designations of Dangerous Iran-Backed Militias

Recently, the Arab League formally condemned Iran’s interference in Bahrain, citing the Islamic Republic’s support for domestic terrorist groups in the kingdom. Iran-backed terror cells have waged a grinding insurgency in Bahrain since 2011, prompting Western countries to take note and even designate some militias as terror entities. But the United States and its allies have yet to coordinate these actions.

All of this has made international terrorism designations more complicated. For example, when the UK government designated al-Ashtar Brigades and al-Mukhtar Brigades in December 2017, it also designated Ashtar’s various front groups. Indeed, the Home Office proscribed Waad Allah Brigades, Islamic Allah Brigades, Imam al-Mahdi Brigades, and al-Haydariyah Brigades in the same stroke. However, when the U.S. State Department followed suit in July 2018, it only designated al-Ashtar Brigades, and its listings did not match those listed by UK. None of Ashtar’s aforementioned front groups, nor al-Mukhtar Brigades, were targeted in the State Department’s designation.

Bilateral designations between the U.S. and UK send an important message of unity, and set an example for other Western allies. Such unity is important now in support of the Trump administration’s policy of combatting Iran’s malign influence in the Middle East, and in defending Saudi Arabian and Bahraini security. As Washington prepares to ramp up financial pressure against Iran in November with the return of sanctions, Iran’s terrorist proxies will also come under scrutiny. Augmenting the U.S. terrorism designation lists to match those of our allies – assuming the intelligence can be verified – is a relatively easy way to turn up the heat.

Varsha Koduvayur is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where she focuses on the Gulf. Caleb Weiss is a contributor to FDD's Long War Journal. Follow them on Twitter @varshakoduvayur and @Weissenberg7.