The Government of Iran condemned this Tuesday the decision of the United Kingdom to declare the Revolutionary Guard as a threat to its security, thus banning support for the organization, a step it has called “unjustified” and “irresponsible”, amid rising bilateral tensions over recent years.
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The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a communiqué published through social media that this “hostile action” by London “contradicts the fundamental principles and norms of International Law, including the principle of sovereign equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of countries.”
“The powerful Revolutionary Guard is an inseparable part of the Armed Forces of Iran,” it said, before emphasizing that this body “is responsible for defending the territorial integrity and national sovereignty and security of Iran” and recalling its role in the fight against “the Islamic State terrorism.”
Thus, the ministry stressed that “the British Government’s decision to label an official institution of an independent state is a despicable and provocative step that violates International Law and the UN Charter,” before elaborating that the measure “shows London’s malice,” “especially in a situation where the Middle East is in a critical and tense state as a result of the rebellion of the United States and the infanticidal Zionist regime.”
“The United Kingdom, which has a long history of interference in the internal affairs of countries and colonial policies worldwide, especially in the Middle East region, and which during the recent US-Zionist military aggression against Iran acted as an accomplice and facilitator of the aggressors, as admitted by the NATO Secretary General, has no moral authority to accuse others,” it stressed.
In this regard, it criticized London for taking the step “based on unfounded security claims” while “hosting and supporting terrorist and violent networks and groups,” before indicating that it reserves the right to take measures in response to the United Kingdom’s decision. “The responsibility for the destructive political, legal, and diplomatic consequences of this anti-Iranian decision lies with the British authorities,” it concluded.
The British government proposed on Monday to include the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in a list of groups that it can pursue with new powers as they are equated with foreign intelligence services under the National Security Law, in a move to respond to the activities of groups backed by foreign states, amid what it considers a wave of attacks by groups supported by Iran or Russia.
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