A cross-party committee of British MPs and lords on Thursday called for the immediate designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, and the closure of a UK charity linked to the regime in Tehran.
Addressing the president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, at a London event attended by Arab News and hosted by the British Committee for Iran Freedom, Conservative MP Theresa Villiers, said: “It’s vital we see a dossier of human rights abuses committed by the mullahs in Iran referred to the UN Security Council.
“This will increase the diplomatic pressure on the regime, but as part of that pressure the UK should shutdown the political office of the supreme leader, the Islamic Centre in Maida Vale. It’s astonishing this is allowed to continue.”
Believed to be funded by government authorities in Tehran, the Islamic Centre of England has faced a series of scandals in recent years, with claims it forms part of a network with close links to the regime.
Villiers added: “We all want to see Iran move towards a free and democratic future. We share the aspirations of those brave protesters and I want that reflected in a robust approach from our government.”
As International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the committee pushed the pivotal role of women in forcing the regime to what many now believe is its end point.
Today also marks the 70th day of protests sparked by the murder of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s notorious morality police, igniting a tinderbox of pent-up frustrations over falling living standards and discrimination against women and minorities.
Although some questioned the “stomach” of protestors to withstand what was expected to be, and has been, a violent response from the regime, there appear no signs of it slowing down. “A democratic revolution is occurring in Iran, religious fascism is on its last leg, and Iranian people and their uprisings are the decisive force, yes, the regime has resorted to widespread arrests and killings, but it cannot change the course of the uprisings,” said Rajavi.
“The Iranian people and protesters urge both houses of the British Parliament to lead a bold initiative to encourage the UK government to take necessary steps.” Rajavi explicitly called on the UK to not only reject the authority of the regime but also urged support for a fact-finding mission to document human rights violations perpetrated by the IRGC.—Agencies
