A British Iranian who completed a 72-day hunger strike has hit out at Labour’s “failure” to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Dissident Vahid Beheshti, who has lost several loved ones to the oppressive Iranian regime, has spoken out against the Islamic Republic on GB News, urging Labour to take a stronger stance against the military branch.
Discussing the regime this afternoon, Mr Beheshti said: “I think every Iranian, if you look at them at this moment, they have lost someone. The numbers that were published through the media was about between 40,000 to 50,000 death toll.
“But the numbers that we get from the ground is about 100,000 people and more than half a million wounded. So that’s the answer of this brutal, barbaric regime to the people who the only asking for basic human rights.
“You’re born with those rights, what to think, what to say, what to wear. How to organise your life. What kind of religion to have or not to have a religion or belief I have believe in God or not believe this simple stuff.
“Iranians are fighting for that, for 47 years now.”
Mr Beheshti claimed the Ayatollah’s oppressive regime executed his 25-year-old cousin – but the activist said he “cannot give up this mission” to fight against tyrannical rule.
He told GB News: “My cousin, Arash Beheshti was shot dead eight weeks ago in Tehran. And my best friend, Ruhollah Zam, one of the best journalists I’ve ever known in my life. I learned a lot from him.
A British Iranian activist spoke to GB News
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GB NEWS
“He wasn’t only my best friend, but my family friend, my cousin. They kidnapped Ruhollah from France four years ago, took him to Iran through sham trial after one year.
“…He was a freelance journalist revealing the human rights violation in Iran and the corruption of the regime.”
But the activist hailed the weakness of the regime, with the death of the Ayatollah following US-Israeli strikes bombarding Iran.
He explained: “Particularly after October 7, [Iran] lost all their proxies. Now, they lost Syria. Syria was a very important hub for them. So they are very isolated.
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PA
“Then they lost all their legitimacy inside of Iran. And now we see the proper action taken against them by America and Israel.”
He added he hoped other countries, including the UK, “at least wake up and feel this is their call as well”.
Mr Beheshti went on to call on Labour to proscribe the IRGC, which has been banned by the US, Canada, Australia and, most recently, the European Union.
However, Sir Keir Starmer has not yet proscribed the militia group – despite Iranian forces clamping down on pro-democracy protesters across the country’s cities.
The activist told presenter Dawn Neesom: “Today is the 1,102nd day we are protesting in front of the UK Government. And if I’m in the country, I am in front of the Foreign Office, sleeping there 24 hours.
“I have the best family, I have the best house. I left everything for three years in the street because I see this is a very important mission for all of us, Because that stream of madness and craziness. The jihadi stream.
“It’s here in the middle of our city and we cannot stay quiet.
“What is my feeling when it comes to the Government? We don’t have a Government at all. There is no strength. There is not any policy.
“Look, we are the only country in the world that we haven’t prescribed IRGC yet. The biggest terrorist organisation in the world. What is the reason?”