Canada and the United Kingdom have already recognised the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation. The Liberal Initiative is lobbying the government to allow the European Union to do the same.
On Tuesday, IL called on the government to initiate proceedings before the EU Council to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organisation, stressing that this would be a step to “limit the action of the Iranian theocratic regime”.
Speaking to reporters, Liberal Initiative (IL) MP Rodrigo Saraiva stressed that the party has already presented several initiatives on Iran, sponsored prisoners and wrote a letter to the Iranian ambassador in Portugal.
“The time has come to take a step forward and what we are going to do is present a draft resolution to recommend to the Government that, together with the Council of the European Union (EU), it initiate the procedure for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be considered a terrorist entity,” he said.
Rodrigo Saraiva noted that countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom have already done so, adding that Australia recently introduced “some targeted sanctions against individuals in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.”
“It is a step that we believe must be taken and that Portugal must give this signal to its European partners and to the international community (…) so that further sanctions can then be applied, especially to the theocratic regime through the Revolutionary Guard,” he said, adding that the government must be part of the effort to limit “the action of the theocratic regime in Iran.”
The IL deputy made this announcement after he organised a round table on human rights on Monday, within the framework of the party’s parliamentary sessions, on the day that marked two years since the death of Mahsa Amini, which was attended by the Iranian pianist Aida Sigharian and Christian Höhn, president of the Venexos association, which supports Venezuelans living in Portugal.
At this roundtable, Aida Sigharian said that after Mahsa Amini’s death, “Iranian youth showed impressive courage” and “lost their fear,” and continue “fighting for freedom” to this day.
The Iranian pianist, who lives in Portugal, said the situation in the country “is very difficult” – with the Internet blocked, repression and executions of political dissidents – but expressed her conviction that the regime “is coming to an end”, noting that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, is already 85 years old.
Asked what political parties could do to support the fight for democracy in Iran, Aida Sigharian noted that Germany, France and England are trying to include the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on the list of terrorist organizations.
“I think this is something that perhaps you, in the European Parliament, can also help to do,” he said, calling on the Portuguese government to reduce its diplomatic relations with the Iranian government.
In turn, Christian Höhn, from the Venexos association, argued that the Portuguese government should recognize Edmundo González as the legitimate president of Venezuela and stop hiding in defense of the Portuguese community residing in the country and adopt a more peremptory position towards the regime of Nicolás Maduro.
“Spain has 1.5 million Spaniards in Venezuela and has decided to publicly support Edmundo González (…) which means that probably, in the next few weeks, the government will be able to close the Spanish embassy and take diplomatic action. Are the Spaniards there worried? No. They are worried about having a better life,” he said, expressing the hope that Portugal will contribute to the EU recognizing Edmundo González as the winner of the elections.
Source: Observadora
