Why the UK must act fast to expel Iranian Diplomats

Unfortunately, we have seen that for a long time, the oldest democracy in the world, the United Kingdom, has been subjected to dangerous threats by the sworn enemies of democracy.

According to published reports, a number of journalists of the Iran International Persian news television channel, headquartered in London, have received direct terrorist threats from those who are no doubt in contact with the Iranian Embassy in London. The seriousness of these threats was such that the reporters of Iran international were officially notified by the Metropolitan Police, who stated that “these threats represent an imminent, credible and significant risk to their lives and those of their families.”

Accordingly, London’s Metropolitan Police secured a large sum of funds, which will no doubt place a burden on the taxpayers of our nation, in order to place 24-hour armed police forces outside of Iran International’s headquarters, to protect its reporters.

I would like to point out that such threats and attacks are not new. On the 19th of August 1986, agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran assassinated Bijan Fazeli, the son of Reza Fazeli who was a critic of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in London by placing a bomb in his store.

Not long ago, through the public release of numerous audio files, agents affiliated with Iran’s intelligence agencies sent death threats to a number of human rights activists of the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights, an organisation registered in the United Kingdom.

The question that arises for British taxpayers is, what is, in principle, the benefit of maintaining diplomatic relations with a system that does not value human rights, international treaties and even bilateral relations with the United Kingdom?

Has the attack on the diplomats of the British Embassy in Tehran, which took place on 29th November 2011, been forgotten? On that day, plainclothes security forces entered the buildings that belong to the British Embassy in Tehran and the Gholhak Gardens, a British diplomatic compound in north Tehran. While looting the classified documents and the property of the embassy, they burned the British flag like wild tribes and even disrespected photographs of Her Majesty the late Queen.

Unfortunately, these lawbreakers were not only not tried, they were instead encouraged and praised by the leaders of the Tehran regime, who had previously occupied the embassies of the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The stances of Iran’s ruling regime towards the government and people of the United Kingdom have always been hostile and hypocritical. Recently, at a meeting of the United Nations High Council for Human Rights, one of the officials of the Iranian regime accused the UK’s government of being responsible for the protests that are in support of the rights of the Iranian people.

Given these disturbing facts, why should we risk waiting for a terrorist diplomat from the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to use their diplomatic immunity in order to give rise to a disaster within the United Kingdom? Should we not take lessons from the case of Assadollah Assadi, the terrorist diplomat of the Islamic Republic of Iran who was convicted and sentenced to life by the Belgian judicial system?

In light of the Islamic Republic of Iran losing all credibility internationally, with its lack of legitimacy among its own people, the obvious question that arises is, how can maintaining political relations with a terrorist regime benefit the people of the United Kingdom? The Islamic Republic of Iran has completely destabilised the Middle East through funding of terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbullah and continues to use diplomats as terrorists, of which at least two have been tried and convicted in formal judicial proceedings in Belgium and Sweden.

To conclude, I would like to suggest that supporting the people of Iran in their fight for democracy and freedom, not only aligns us with the fundamental principles of human rights but will in turn improve the security of the citizens of the United Kingdom. The most practical support that the United Kingdom can provide is to reduce political relations with Iran’s ruling regime and expel Iranian diplomats, which can pave the way to isolate this anti-human rights system in the world.

Cllr Mattie Heaven stood as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Coventry South GE2019. She is the Conservative Deputy Chairman for the West Midlands Region and the Director of the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR), where her work focuses on women’s rights, freedom of religion & belief and countering extremism & radicalisation.