Australian Shadow FM Advocates For Designating IRGC
The Australian Shadow Assistant Foreign Minister expressed disappointment that Australia has not listed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
The Australian Shadow Assistant Foreign Minister expressed disappointment that Australia has not listed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
In an interview with Iran International, Senator Claire Chandler voiced her concerns about Iran's influence in using proxies to spread terror and violence globally. Attacks by IRGC operatives have been thwarted across the globe, in countries including the UK, Cyprus and Azerbaijan.
Chandler emphasized the link between the Islamic Republic of Iran and entities like Hamas and Hezbollah, both known for their involvement in acts of terror, referring to the current war in Gaza, triggered by the October 7 of Hamas in Israel, killing 1,200 mostly civilians. Since then, increasing attacks from Hezbollah on Israel's north have meant 150,000 Israelis have been displaced from north and south Israel.
“We know that the Islamic Republic of Iran regime funds Hamas, which is obviously causing so much terror and violence currently in the Middle East. They founded Hezbollah. And of course, are closely linked with the IRGC,” noted Chandler.
She underscored the role of the IRGC in these activities, urging the Australian government to designate it as a terrorist organization. The Australian Senate had recommended such a designation in February, but Canberra has indicated legal uncertainties surrounding the matter.
In 2019, the United States, under the Trump administration, designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist group amidst escalating tensions with Iran following Washington's withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. In response, Tehran designated the US military as a terrorist group. Other countries such as the UK, Canada and France, have so far hesitated to follow suit but have sanctioned the organization and individuals linked to it heavily.
In a press briefing on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors session, Director-General Rafael Grossi told Iran International that "Iran has ceased to implement lots of aspects and nuclear related obligations under the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and it's not implementing mutually agreed additional measures under the joint statement of March 4th.”
On Wednesday, Grossi presented his latest report on verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), saying that “Iran’s stockpiles of uranium enriched up to 5%, enriched up to 20% and enriched up to 60% – high enriched uranium – have all increased since we met in September with the increase of the 60% continuing at the same rate as I reported at the time of the last Board."
The European Union’s representative told the IAEA Board of Governors that “the EU remains committed to the JCPOA... to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.” The bloc also implicitly called on the US to return, saying, “The EU calls on all countries to support the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015)," the UN document that is the foundation of the JCPOA.
Expressing deep concerns by the successive IAEA reports documenting the alarming acceleration of Iran’s nuclear program “that gravely departs from its JCPOA commitments," the EU said that Iran’s actions have “no credible civilian justification” and “carry very significant proliferation-related risks and raise grave concerns about Iran’s intentions.”
The recent IAEA report documented a substantial accumulation of the enriched uranium stockpile and an expansion of nuclear enrichment infrastructure “far beyond JCPOA thresholds for quantity and level of enrichment.”
In June 2022, Iran removed all IAEA JCPOA-related surveillance and monitoring equipment and since March it agreed to put them back on operation, but it has been stonewalling the process ever since. Additionally, Tehran withdrew the designation of several inspectors assigned to conduct verification activities in Iran under the Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement a few days after securing a prisoner swap with the US that included unfreezing of about $6 billion of its oil revenues blocked in South Korea.
Tehran's move, which the IAEA called "disproportionate and unprecedented", was in response to a call by the United States, France, Britain and Germany at another round of IAEA Board of Governors to give credible explanations on the uranium particles and let the IAEA install more surveillance cameras. So far, the IAEA has had no progress in getting Iran to reverse its so-called "de-designation" in September of the IAEA inspectors. The move effectively barred some inspectors, who diplomats said were from France and Germany and the IAEA said were among its most experienced experts, from working in Iran.
After the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and reimposition of sanctions in 2018, Iran has accelerated its enrichment pace and stockpiling load, using them as bargaining chips to get concessions from the West. Iran did not agree to a compromise plan proposed by the European Union in 2022 to revive the agreement, despite the Biden administration’s stated goal of finding a diplomatic solution.Washington has informally relaxed sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and allowed blocked funds in Iraq and South Korea to be released, but Tehran has shown no willingness to resolve the nuclear issue.
When it comes to nuclear commitments, Iran does not abide by rules but when a sunset clause of the same 2015 accord comes, Iran is there to reap the harvest. In October, the United Nations’ checks and balances on Iran’s missile program expired, enabling a newly emboldened Iran to legally supply Russia with arms for the invasion of Ukraine as its global reign of terror continues even less abated.
Hundreds of police participated in the operations which were carried out in Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia on Thursday.
Earlier this month, the German government officially banned any activity in support of Hamas, which had already been designated as a terrorist group in the country.
Following the ban, the activities of Samidoun, an international pro-Palestinian network, was also declared illegal after its celebrations in the streets of Berlin after Hamas’s deadly onslaught on Israel on October 7 which killed 1,200 mostly civilians and saw 240 more taken to Gaza.
“With the bans on Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any glorification or support of the barbaric terror of Hamas against Israel,” said German interior minister Nancy Faeser in a statement.
"We continue our consistent action against radical Islamists," she vowed, adding that “Islamists and antisemites cannot and must not feel safe anywhere here.”
According to Germany’s intelligence sources, around 450 Hamas members live in the country, helping finance the terror group.
Germany has beefed up security measures to protect its Jewish citizens who have been the targets of antisemitic attacks since October 7 as global antisemitism soars amidst the war.
Hamas has been designated a terrorist group by the European Union, the US, and many other Western countries.
