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Foreign Office Minister David Rutley has condemned Iran’s efforts to destabilise the West Bank as “abhorrent” during FCDO Oral Questions this week, asserting the “need call [it] out”.
The Minister added that Iran had caused “all sorts of challenges”, in response to a question from CFI Parliamentary Chairman (Commons) Rt. Hon. Stephen Crabb MP who had highlighted the “emergence of new terror groups in the Palestinian Territories”, such Lion’s Den and Jenin Brigades. Mr Crabb said that Iran was “enabling and encouraging violence in the region”, while also noting the Palestinian Authority’s loss of control over parts of the West Bank, including the city of Jenin.
CFI’s Vice-Chair John Howell MP commended the newest “peace project” borne from the Abraham Accords: “a continuous land bridge directly connecting Israel to Jordan and to other Arab States”. The Vice-Chair asked what steps the Government was taking to support its construction.
Tom Randall MP spoke of his concern that the terrorists behind the murder of three British-Israeli nationals in April would likely receive salaries from the Palestinian Authority because of their “grotesque ‘pay to slay’ policy” which “proudly send[s] hundreds of millions of pounds to terrorists”.
“There has been progress from the Government on tougher sanctions [on Iran], but frankly it is not enough”, declared Bob Blackman CBE MP in a pre-recess summer adjournment debate. “We must proscribe the IRGC in its entirety. It is a terrorist organisation and should be highlighted as such”, he added.
Speaking as Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Israel, Mr Blackman shared his “concern[s] that there has been a lot of false and misleading propaganda, both in Parliament and online, regarding the recent counter-terrorism operation in the Jenin camp”. “We should be clear that the Jenin camp is being used as a base for terrorist organisations and used to orchestrate attacks against innocent civilians”, he warned.
Mr Blackman also mentioned the Jewish Chronicle report and subsequent Government investigation on UK universities helping Iran develop military technology. Echoing his remarks, Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, Alicia Kearns MP, stated that “We need to see prosecutions brought against some of those academics because they broke sanctions legislation, evaded sanctions and helped undermine sanctions”. “Academics must recognise that, unfortunately, in some situations they are aiding those who would undermine our national security”, she added.
