UK MP calls for banning IRGC after flag flown at London demonstration

A British MP who also serves as the Conservative Party’s chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee has called on the government to follow the US in designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization and deems banning IRGC as necessary.

MP for Tonbridge and Malling, Tom Tugendhat, reportedly called for banning IRGC after footage surfaced on social media of an IRGC banner at a Palestine solidarity march that took place in London last weekend, along with a flag of Palestine and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which includes some armed factions supported by the IRGC.

Tugendhat was quoted by the Telegraph yesterday as stating: “It is disturbing to see the flag of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps being so brazenly displayed on the streets of London.

“This is a terrorist organisation that is responsible for sowing instability across the Middle East and promotes Islamist extremism all over the world.”

“The US has proscribed this vile organization; the UK Government should do the same, as recommended by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. We should never have to see its flags on British streets again,” he added.

In 2019 former US President Donald Trump approved the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization despite it being part of Iran’s military. It has both operated independently and in cooperation with the regular armed forces, the Artesh. Should the UK also brand the IRGC a terrorist entity, it would be the first time a state group has been proscribed as such in the country.

Trump’s designation preceded the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani head of the IRGC’s elite branch, the Quds Force at the beginning of last year after making a dubious claim that he posed an “imminent” threat to the American people.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury claims one of the reasons behind banning IRGC is that it has supported several organizations the U.S. deems to be terrorist, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), and the Taliban.

Source: Middle East Monitor
Also read: Blinken: Iran Funds ‘Extremist Groups,’ But Biden Wants to Return to Nuclear Deal Anyway

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