To confront Iran, halt the IRGC’s commerce

By Sir David Amess 

Washington Examiner, April 11, 2017 - Last week the leading Iranian opposition group held a press conference in Westminster to highlight some aspects of the ever-growing commercial empire being maintained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as well as the ways in which the paramilitary’s wealth contributes to the ongoing operations of terrorist groups throughout the region.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ) specifically identified the sites of some 90 docks operated exclusively by the IRGC within Iranian ports.

 The information was obtained from the network of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), which has assets within the clerical regime and the IRGC itself and made international headlines in 2002 when it revealed key details about the regime’s nuclear program.The NCRI pointed out that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei specifically ordered docks whose operations have been granted to the IRGC should be subject to no oversight.

 The notably hard line paramilitary organization has free rein to smuggle black market goods into the Islamic Republic and most disturbingly, to smuggle weapons, financial resources and personnel to spread the regime’s influence into the wider regions of the Middle East, including Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain.

For those who have been following the activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran throughout its 38 years of existence, one should understand that both of these IRGC operations have a long history

of training centers throughout Iran, divided based on nationality and types of training. The two types of training are terrorist and military training, both of which help to train forces for combat in Syria and other areas.

IRGC Is Arm of Iran Regime's Exporting of Terrorism

“Since 2012, the training of foreign mercenaries in the IRGC control camps have actually increased. So much under the operation of Rouhani,” said Jafarzadeh. He also noted that those who come for military training have been recruited for additional training in missiles, marine training and special courses in heavy weaponry.

“Keep in mind that the IRGC controls the export and import of the country through the docks that they have. About 40% of all the docks in the country,” said Jafarzadeh. He stated that with this control, the IRGC is using the funds to maintain their huge operation.

In the official budget, they are only allocated 3 to 4%, but even that official amount is much higher. 

“It’s about 30% of the budget that is hidden under different names and under different covers, but it’s actually the budget for exporting terrorism and training these terrorists and also security purposes…You [also] have profits coming from 14 major power houses that are actually controlled by Khamenei and the IRGC,” said Jafarzadeh.

The ruling mullahs in Iran hear the rallying cries of the PMOI, the army of freedom and the Iranian Resistance in every popular uprising which will ultimately put an end to their religious tyranny. Yes, the overthrow and termination of the mullahs’ regime is certain and inevitable.

Maryam Rajavi Remembering the Martyrs of the April 8, 2011 Massacre of Camp Ashraf Residents

Commemorating the martyrs of the epic battle in Ashraf on April 8, 2011
Fellow Iranians,
Sisters and brothers,
We have gathered today to honor the sixth anniversary of the epic battle of the PMOI in Ashraf on April 8, 2011.

A stunning resistance and a glorious battle.
An unequal confrontation between residents of Ashraf who were empty-handed but proud on one hand, and the armed forces of the clerical regime’s puppet government in Iraq who were armed to the teeth, on the other.

On that day, the Iraqi forces’ Humvees and APCs ran over the bodies of the PMOI, their bullets piercing their chests and heads. Thirty-six PMOI members gave their lives for Iran’s freedom. In the end, however, Khamenei and Maliki were the ones who failed to conquer Ashraf. And the PMOI were proud and triumphant despite their wounds and the loss of their loved ones.

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Khamenei promoted Raisi in 1989 to deputy chair of the Assembly of Experts, the body in charge of selecting the next supreme leader. Raisi continued to climb up the regime's ranks in the judiciary, continuing his crimes against the Iranian people.

Ebrahim Raisi, the new candidate in Iran's presidential election

Analysts are voicing a variety of opinions over the fact that Raisi will tighten the race and make the stretch more difficult for Rouhani, and portraying a broader image of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ill with prostate cancer, who is grooming Raisi to succeed him, using the presidency as a springboard.

Born in 1960, Raisi was involved in the regime's judiciary since early after Iran's 1979 revolution.  In 1988, as Tehran's deputy prosecutor, Raisi was a member of the four-man team known as the "Death Commission," appointed by Iranian regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini, to massacre all political prisoners in Iran's prisons who maintained their opposition.  Over 30,000 political prisoners, mostly members and supporters of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), were sent to the gallows in a span of mere months.

Last summer, a sound file surfaced, dating back to 1988 and around 20 days after the massacre began, of Khomeini's successor, Hossein Ali Montazeri, meeting with Death Commission members, including Raisi, and describing the massacre as the most horrifying crime carried out by the Iranian regime.  Subsequent reports showed how Raisi played an active role and was known as the most ruthless Death Commission member.

Raisi's announcement on Thursday, as reported by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, comes a day after two other members of the "hardliners" faction, former firebrand president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, opted out.

For years the Iranian opposition has been highlighting how Iran is the main reason for the continuation of the war in Syria and the main obstacle before peace.

Massacre In Syria Is Why Iran Must Be Evicted

Public opinion in the Arab World has been increasingly against the role played by Iran through its Revolutionary Guards – the entity behind Tehran’s human rights violations, nuclear program and ballistic missile drive – and a conglomerate of proxy groups in Syria. 

There no longer is any doubt in the Middle East that the main element behind the ongoing catastrophes caused by the war in Syria is none other than the regime in Iran. Over 500,000 people killed and 14 million displaced throughout the country or scattered across the globe has been the end result to date.

What has raised eyebrows recently is far more transparent positions taken by the West, especially the new U.S. administration on Syria. 

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley has vividly underscored the necessity to confront Iran’s meddling in the region, evicting its forces from Syria and labeling Assad as a war criminal. A recent European Union Foreign Ministers session in Luxembourg emphasized on the necessity to support the Syrian opposition and guaranteeing Assad having no future in Syria.

Speaking about the Iran nuclear deal, Offord said that it was a “missed opportunity” that the U.S. and the other world leaders failed to bring up the Iranian regime’s terrorist activities and human rights abuses. He said that this is something that is important to him and many others Members of Parliament who are very disappointed at this failing.

British House of Commons Debate: Iran Regime Is the Number One State Sponsor of Terrorism in the World

Another failure of the Iran nuclear deal, he said, was that a large amount of resources were unfrozen for the country. Instead of using these newfound resources to improve the conditions of the people of Iran who suffer in extreme poverty, or to improve the failing infrastructure, the Iranian regime has used it to fund terror in the Middle East.

“Tehran has budgeted about $100 billion for the conflict (in Syria), under cover from Khamenei’s office. That money has been spent on the purchase of military weaponry and on Syria’s own military expenses—$1 billion is spent solely on the salaries of the forces affiliated with the IRGC, including military forces, militias and Shi’ite networks.”

Offord spoke about Iran’s increasing influence in Yemen and mentioned that it has a “complex network of weapon-smuggling routes throughout the region”, highlighting that this itself is a breach of four Security Council resolutions - 1737, 1747, 1803 and 1835.

Offord spoke about Iran’s increasing influence in Yemen and mentioned that it has a “complex 

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U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in London said Iran is continuing its behavior as an exporter of terrorism and supporting the activities of proxy militias.

Iranian regime leadership becoming extremely concerned recently

April 1, 2017 - After enjoying eight years of active appeasement, engagement and rapprochement from the U.S. under the tenure of President Barack Obama, Iran is beginning to feel the heat, significantly to say the least, in the wake of increasingly harsh remarks made by a slate of American and international correspondents.

 And with crucial presidential elections looming just around the corner as scheduled for May the 19th, this rise in the tone of the international community couldn’t come at a worst timing for Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump made it clear recently of setting aside all obstacles before Bahrain purchasing F-16 warplanes. This initiative was suspended by the Obama administration and this new measure sends a clear signal to Iran, after Trump has described Iran as the main state sponsor of terror.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in London said Iran is continuing its behavior as an exporter of terrorism and supporting the activities of proxy militias.