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CFI’s Honorary President, Lord Polak CBE, this week joined British-Iranian campaigner Vahid Beheshti and his wife Cllr Mattie Heaven in a discussion hosted by the Jerusalem Center for Public affairs on “Uniting the Iranian Opposition, Outlawing the IRGC: Obstacles and Opportunity”.
Beheshti, who was on hunger strike outside the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for 72 days campaigning for the IRGC to be proscribed, thanked Lord Polak for being instrumental in the cross-party letter to Prime Minister Sunak signed by 125 parliamentarians.
Beheshti drew attention to the sit-in still taking place outside the FCDO and the Fatwa issued against him, while Cllr Heaven highlighted Iran’s stature as the world’s fifth richest country in oil and second in gas and the regime’s mission to export its vision of a global Islamic state worldwide.
Lord Polak emphasised that prompt action needs to be taken against Iran and the IRGC, noting that in addition to inflicting human rights abuses against their citizens, they are also aiding Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. He pointed out that the Iranian regime was the biggest security concern to the State of Israel.
Addressing Beheshti’s hunger strike, the peer expressed his support of him and gratitude that the hunger strike is over as “anything that happens to Vahid is a victory to [Iran]”.
