NCRI Staff
NCRI – The following statement was issued by Struan Stevenson, the president of EIFA:
The European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) welcomes the new strategy adopted by the US on Iran. In particular the designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization by the US treasury has been warmly welcomed in the region.
The Quds Force, which is a special unit of the IRGC responsible for extraterritorial operations, has been the main sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East, particularly in Syria and Iraq. We call for firm action against the IRGC-Quds Force and its immediate expulsion from these two countries.
We strongly condemn the presence of the terrorist Hashd al-Shaabi group under the command of the Quds Force and their commander General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq, especially in the regions which have been liberated from ISIS (Daesh) and also in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq is really part of the IRGC and its presence in that country will greatly increase the tension, loss of innocent lives, increased repression and killing of Sunnis and Kurds.
The Peshmerga General Command said that the Hashd al-Shaabi militia, trained and financed by the IRGC-Quds Force, organized the recent and on-going attacks on Kurdish troops; we have received troubling news of several Kurdish Peshmerga being beheaded by Hashd al-Shaabi militia during confrontations to capture the city of Kirkuk on Monday.
We call on the US government to intervene urgently. The implementation of the new US strategy on Iran and its IRGC will have to begin immediately in Iraq and Syria.
Struan Stevenson
President, European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA)
Struan Stevenson, was a member of the European Parliament for 15 years. During that time he chaired the Friends of a Free Iran intergroup which became the centre of pro-democracy campaigns in Europe in support of human rights in Iran. He also chaired European Parliament’s official Delegation for Relations with Iraq. He is now President of European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA)