MP calls on UK to proscribe Iran guards to end ‘nefarious activities’

MP calls on UK to proscribe Iran guards to end ‘nefarious activities’
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The National Council of Resistance of Iran’s UK office held a press conference at the House of Commons in London on Feb. 2, 2023. (AN Photo)
MP calls on UK to proscribe Iran guards to end ‘nefarious activities’
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The National Council of Resistance of Iran’s UK office held a press conference at the House of Commons in London on Feb. 2, 2023. (AN Photo)
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Updated 04 February 2023

MP calls on UK to proscribe Iran guards to end ‘nefarious activities’

MP calls on UK to proscribe Iran guards to end ‘nefarious activities’
  • Bob Blackman called for imposing stronger sanctions to ‘bring this regime to its knees’ as they do not respond to negotiations
  • National Council of Resistance of Iran called for the Islamic Center of England to be closed as it spreads the regime’s propaganda across the UK

LONDON: Iran poses a “clear and present danger” and immediate action must be taken to proscribe the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization in the UK, according to a parliamentarian.

“Every day we delay, we give them the opportunity to expand their operations, to carry out other nefarious activities,” Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, told Arab News. “We’ve seen evidence of some of the organizations in the United Kingdom that are operating under direct control of the IRGC.”

He said that this was “a serious threat to our homeland security, so it’s key that we have to address it and prompt action is required.”

Blackman said that the British government has already proscribed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip as terrorist organizations and they “are funded and supported by the IRGC.” The things the regime has done and is doing have been listed, and these are sufficient for it to be proscribed.

The US has done it, other European countries are working on it and “we need to encourage our allies to work jointly with us so they cannot operate anywhere else in the world, but that’s the key challenge,” he added.

Although it has received cross-party support as a matter of national interest and security, the UK has failed to proscribe them so far, and “the only reason why the government, I think, are hesitating over that is that ends negotiations, and if it ends negotiations, well, fine. I don’t mind that,” Blackman said.




Locations of Iranian regime missile sites across the country. (Supplied/NCRI)

Talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which was scrapped by then-president, Donald Trump, in 2018, have been deadlocked since September.

“There are no negotiations going on because obviously the IRGC activities and the activities of the regime in Iran is suppressing their people with a position whereby thousands have been arrested, hundreds have been killed, and many face potential execution for the mere crime of protesting against the regime. There’s no time to negotiate on that basis,” he said.

Blackman believes negotiations are a mistake in the first place as there has been evidence that Iran was in violation of its obligations under the current treaty, and talks cannot be held under those circumstances.




(Supplied/NCRI)

“What we do have to do is prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon at all costs. That of course, does mean at all costs. We cannot get them to a point where they’ve got a nuclear weapon and can threaten the region with potential nuclear war. That would just be a complete disaster for everyone in the region and possibly beyond.”

He called for imposing stronger sanctions against individuals to “bring this regime to its knees” because it did not respond to negotiations.

Blackman said that the UK government’s rationale must also be that there are dual nationals and British citizens in Iran, and urged them to leave because they could be captured and used as hostages, which has happened already.

“We’re seeing all sorts of nefarious activities, interference in elections in other countries, terrorist plots which have been foiled not only across the Middle East but also in Europe and in the UK itself, as well as now cyberattacks which are proven to be going on, attacking the House of Commons and the Houses of Parliament generally, for the sole purpose, obviously, of disrupting our data and causing us damage overall.

“That just demonstrates that these people are not to be trusted one iota and therefore need to be proscribed,” he said.

Blackman was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s UK office on Thursday to reveal new information about the terrorist activities of the IRGC and the need to proscribe them. He said they have held numerous negotiations with the UK Foreign Office and will now speak with the Home Office, as it was up to them to make the decision.

Hossein Abedini, deputy director of the NCRI’s UK representative office, said they are in touch with many MPs in different parties and there is a strong British committee supporting Iranian freedom in parliament, which has been very active in different debates.

He highlighted to reporters the ways in which the IRGC was an army of terror and oppression, and suppressing the Iranian people, along with their training and military bases and major garrisons around the country and in the capital, Tehran




(Supplied/NCRI)

Abedini shared a classified document in Farsi obtained by the NCRI of minutes of a meeting at the International Directorate of the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on May 31, 2022, where representatives of eight terrorist and extremist organizations of the regime participated.

Among the minutes, one representative from the Quds Force — one of five branches of the IRGC — reported bringing a 55-member military delegation from Venezuela to Iran in 2022, “which shows the dimensions of the IRGC’s intervention in a Latin American country,” an English explanation of the document provided by the NCRI said.

Abedini called for the London-based Islamic Center of England, which is under the supervision of the International Directorate Khamenei’s Office and headed by Mullah Seyed Hashem Mousavi, to be closed down as it had agents around the UK that aimed to spread the regime’s propaganda.




Appointment of Seyed Hashem Moussavi as the head of the Islamic Center of England in London by the international director of Khamenei’s Office Mohsen Qomi. (Supplied/NCRI)

On the recent execution of Alireza Akbari, an Iranian-British national who was a former Iranian deputy defense minister, Abedini said that this could add weight to the UK’s decision to proscribe the IRGC.

“That clearly shows that the regime is panicking, and it clearly shows that they are really in a very critical situation. I think it certainly will add, but it’s a political decision, so the UK, if the members of Parliament continue to put pressure, we will reach that point,” he added.

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Over 1,400 migrants are rescued from overcrowded boats off Italy by coast guard

Over 1,400 migrants are rescued from overcrowded boats off Italy by coast guard
Updated 07 June 2023

Over 1,400 migrants are rescued from overcrowded boats off Italy by coast guard

Over 1,400 migrants are rescued from overcrowded boats off Italy by coast guard
  • There were 47 migrants, including two children in immediate need of medical care, aboard the sailboat in distress off the region of Calabria
  • The rescues began late Monday night and ended in the early hours of Wednesday in the Ionian Sea off Calabria's east coast

ROME: More than 1,400 migrants have been rescued from overcrowded vessels, including a sailboat, in four separate operations in the Mediterranean Sea off southern Italy, the Italian coast guard said Wednesday.
There were 47 migrants, including two children in immediate need of medical care, aboard the sailboat in distress off the region of Calabria, in the “toe” of the Italian peninsula, a coast guard statement said. They were rescued by a coast guard motorboat early Tuesday.
The statement said the rescues began late Monday night and ended in the early hours of Wednesday in the Ionian Sea off Calabria’s east coast. One coast guard vessel took on around 590 migrants from aboard a fishing boat, and then later brought on around 650 migrants from another fishing boat, the statement said.
A coast guard motorboat and an Italian border police ship came to the assistance of a fourth vessel, with 130 migrants aboard.
Authorities didn’t immediately give details on the nationalities of the passengers or routes taken by the migrant vessels. But generally, many boats with migrants sighted off the Ionian Sea set out from Turkiye’s coast, where smugglers launch crowded and unseaworthy boats.
Earlier this year, a migrant boat navigating on that route slammed into a sandbank just off a Calabrian beach town and broke apart. At least 94 migrants perished and 80 others survived.
That shipwreck is under criminal investigation, including the role of several members of Italy’s border police corps, which operates vessels off the country’s long coastline. Four suspected smugglers have been arrested.
In addition, prosecutors want to know if rescue efforts could have been launched hours earlier. Italian border police boats reportedly turned back to port because of rough seas, and by the time a coast guard vessel, better equipped to navigate in poor sea conditions, reached the area, bodies were already in the water. In that case, the migrant boat had been spotted hours earlier by a surveillance aircraft operated by Frontex, the European Union’s border monitoring force.
Wednesday’s statement by the coast guard said that crew on a Frontex surveillance plane had spotted a fishing boat with the 590 migrants aboard. A Frontex patrol boat and a Frontex support vessel were among the assets involved in the rescue operations for the two fishing boats, according to the coast guard.
Alarm Phone, a nongovernmental organization that frequently receives satellite calls from migrant vessels in distress and relays the information to maritime authorities in Italy and Malta, was among the organizations signaling the need for rescue for the 130 people aboard the fourth boat.


Erdogan proposes destroyed dam probe in Zelensky call

Erdogan proposes destroyed dam probe in Zelensky call
Updated 07 June 2023

Erdogan proposes destroyed dam probe in Zelensky call

Erdogan proposes destroyed dam probe in Zelensky call
  • Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame for the destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric dam
  • President Erdogan said that a commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations and the international community

ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday proposed, in a call with his Ukrainian counterpart, creating an international commission to probe the destruction of a major dam in southern Ukraine, his office reported.
Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame for the destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which was ripped open early Tuesday after a reported blast.
“President Erdogan said that a commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations and the international community, including Turkiye, for a detailed investigation into the explosion at Kakhovka dam,” his office said after the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Kakhovka dam sits on the Dnipro River, which feeds a reservoir providing cooling water for the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe’s largest, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) upstream.
The destruction of the dam caused torrents of water to pour into the Dnipro, pushing thousands of civilians to flee the flooded areas while raising fears of an ecological disaster.
NATO member Turkiye, which has good ties with Moscow and Kyiv.


Marcos to strengthen ties with countries hosting Filipino workers

Marcos to strengthen ties with countries hosting Filipino workers
Updated 07 June 2023

Marcos to strengthen ties with countries hosting Filipino workers

Marcos to strengthen ties with countries hosting Filipino workers
  • Philippines celebrates Migrant Workers’ Day every June 7
  • Overseas ‘heroes’ are key drivers of the Philippine economy

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Wednesday his administration would foster stronger ties with countries that host overseas Filipinos to ensure their safety and welfare.

Nearly 2 million migrant workers are key drivers of the Philippine economy and a main source of the country’s foreign reserves.

Often referred to as “modern-day heroes,” Marcos said overseas Filipinos “fuel the engine of progress” in the Philippines. They sent around $36 billion in personal remittances last year, making up about 8.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to central bank data.

“We understand the challenges that you faced being far from your loved ones, adjusting to new cultures and overcoming barrier(s),” Marcos said in a video message broadcast to mark Migrant Workers’ Day in the Philippines.

“That’s why this administration will continue to foster stronger ties with countries that host our migrant workers, ensuring safety, welfare and well-being.”

Nearly a quarter of overseas Filipinos, or OFWs, work and live in Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore and Qatar.

“In every corner of the globe, you have left an indelible mark that uplifted both your host countries and our nation in the process,” Marcos said, adding that their sacrifices had “nurtured dreams, elevated livelihoods, and fueled the engine of progress” in the Philippines.

The Philippines celebrates Migrant Workers’ Day every June 7 in commemoration of enacting the 1995 Migrant Workers’ Act, which introduces standards for the protection and welfare of those working abroad, their families and overseas Filipinos in distress.

In 2021, former president Rodrigo Duterte signed a law establishing the Department of Migrant Workers, which is tasked with overseeing policies protecting OFWs.

The DMW’s Secretary Susan Ople announced on Wednesday training and mentorship programs for OFWs with the Department of Trade and Industry to help Filipino migrant workers start their own businesses once they return to home.

“Our OFWs contribute to our economy through their dollar remittances but at some point in their lives, they would also need to come home and create sustainable sources of income through entrepreneurship, sound investments or by landing a better job here at home,” Ople said.

“We want them to come back with excitement in their hearts on what the future holds for them and their families, through meaningful partnerships across the government bureaucracy and with NGOs and private companies serving as their mentors and cheerleaders.”


Poll suggests most Asian, Black people in UK face regular discrimination

Protesters with banners and placards march from Toxteth into central Liverpool in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Protesters with banners and placards march from Toxteth into central Liverpool in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Updated 07 June 2023

Poll suggests most Asian, Black people in UK face regular discrimination

Protesters with banners and placards march from Toxteth into central Liverpool in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
  • Majority of respondents say Britain needs to make more progress on racial issues over next 25 years

LONDON: A new report has revealed that more than two-thirds of Black and Asian people in the UK face racial discrimination in their daily lives, the Metro reported.

The study by British Future, a think tank, explored British public attitudes on race, identity, and bias, using polling data covering almost 2,500 people, including 1,000 from an ethnic minority background.

The polling was conducted by Focaldata in March and April.

Though 80 percent of ethnic minority participants said that the UK was a better place to live for minorities than the US, Germany, and France, 67 percent said that they still faced discrimination in Britain on a daily basis.

When White British participants were asked if the UK was a better place to live for minorities compared to other major Western countries, 73 percent reckoned the statement was true while 27 percent did not.

But when asked if it was easier to “get on” in Britain if you were white, 48 percent of white British respondents and 60 percent of ethnic minority participants said that they believed it was.

And more than half of all respondents said that Britain’s political and media culture had become more divisive and polarized, including on racial issues, which two-thirds of people said should involve a less-heated debate.

On Britain’s progress on racial issues over the last 25 years, 68 percent of ethnic minority participants and 71 percent of white respondents said that the country had made “significant” changes.

However, a majority of all respondents — 64 percent of white Britons and 80 percent of minority groups — agreed with the statement that Britain “needs to make much more progress on race in the next 25 years.”


Attacks by suspected militants in Burkina Faso kill 21

Attacks by suspected militants in Burkina Faso kill 21
Updated 07 June 2023

Attacks by suspected militants in Burkina Faso kill 21

Attacks by suspected militants in Burkina Faso kill 21
  • Burkina Faso struggling with a militant insurgency that swept in from neighboring Mali in 2015
  • Nearly a third of the country lies outside the government’s control, according to official estimates

OUAGADOUGOU: Twenty-one people, most of them members of the security forces, have been killed in Burkina Faso in attacks by suspected militants, security sources said on Wednesday.
Fourteen members of the VDP volunteer militia and four soldiers died on Monday in Sawenga in central-eastern Burkina, while five were wounded, a source said.
Another security source confirmed the toll, saying that the clash occurred during an operation to secure the area, and that “more than 50 terrorists were neutralized” in an airborne counter-attack.
Separately, a police source said a policeman and two civilians were killed on Monday night in an attack on a police border post at Yendere, on the southwestern frontier with Ivory Coast.
A trucker in the area confirmed the attack, adding that many local people had already fled into Ivory Coast because of militant incursions.
Ivory Coast hosts around 18,000 Burkinabe refugees, more than double the tally for 2022, according to the UN’s refugee agency.
One of the poorest and most troubled countries in the world, Burkina is struggling with a militant insurgency that swept in from neighboring Mali in 2015.
Nearly a third of the country lies outside the government’s control, according to official estimates.
More than 10,000 civilians, troops and police have died, according to an NGO count, while at least two million people have been displaced.
Anger within the military at failures to roll back the insurgency sparked two coups last year, culminating in the ascent of a young army captain, Ibrahim Traore.
The junta has ruled out any negotiations with the militants.
It is staking much of its anti-militant strategy on the VDP — the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland militia.
The force comprises civilian volunteers who are given two weeks’ military training and then work alongside the army, typically carrying out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.
Since its inception in December 2019, the VDP has suffered hundreds of casualties, especially in ambushes or roadside bombings.
Despite the losses, the authorities launched a successful recruitment drive last year, encouraging 90,000 people to sign up, far exceeding the target of 50,000.