Struan Stevenson: Soleimani’s Assassination Isn’t Enough to End the Evil That Lurks in Iran’s Regime
Written by Mahmoud Hakamian
In an article published by Scottish daily The Herald on Thursday, Struan Stevenson, a former Member of the European Parliament representing Scotland and the president of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq, explained that the elimination of Qassem Soleimani, chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force, isn’t enough to end the Iranian regime’s institutionalized terrorism.
Soleimani was immediately replaced by another criminal IRGC commander, Esmail Ghaani.
“Like his ruthless predecessor, Ghaani has taken up the post of Commander in Chief of the terrorist Quds Force, the extra-territorial wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” wrote Mr. Stevenson.
“With blood on his hands, General Ghaani is the Ayatollahs’ ideal choice to take command of their equivalent of the Gestapo. He has spent years actively repressing the people of Iran while aiding the theocratic regime’s policy of aggressive expansionism across the Middle East and further afield,” he added.
Referring to Ghaani’s long records of crimes, Mr. Stevenson wrote: “He served as Soleimani’s deputy for the past 20 years, rising quickly through the ranks after helping to crush the Kurdish uprising following the overthrow of the Shah in the 1979 revolution.”
“While Soleimani focused on the Iranian regime’s proxy wars in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, Ghaani’s job was to bolster terrorist militias in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Africa,” read Mr. Stevenson’s article.
“Since 2014, Ghaani’s focus has increasingly turned to the Middle East. During the war against Isis in Iraq, he was seen several times in Quds Force delegations organising the genocidal campaign against the predominantly Sunni population of al-Anbar province, where hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were ethnically cleansed from the ancient cities of Fallujah and Ramadi and later from Mosul, in the Governorate of Nineveh,” he added.
“Keen to cement his place as the new Quds Force commander, immediately following Soleimani’s funeral in Tehran, Ghaani met with Ismail Haniyeh, chief of the terrorist Hamas and his deputy Saleh al-Arouri and other Hamas politburo members,” said Mr. Stevenson.
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Mr. @StruanStevenson: #Iran Regime’s Esmail Gaani Is the New Godfather of Terror https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/terrorism-fundamentalism/27194-struan-stevenson-iran-regime-s-esmail-gaani-is-the-new-godfather-of-terror …#IRGCTerrorists#Soleimani
Struan Stevenson: Iran Regime’s Esmail Gaani Is the New Godfather of Terror
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In his article, Mr. Stevenson also argued that Ghaani’s “tough talk and his bloodstained past” has done “little to dent the determination of the Islamic Republic’s 80 million, careworn and struggling population, who have taken to the streets in their hundreds of thousands in recent weeks in protest at the venal corruption of the ruling mullahs and their wanton spending on conflict and terror.”
Referring to the nationwide Iran protests in November, and the regime’s brutal crackdown, Mr. Stevenson wrote: “The brutal crackdown on the protests ordered by Khamenei and enthusiastically implemented by Ghaani’s predecessor Soleimani, saw IRGC thugs shoot dead 1,500 young demonstrators, including 400 women, wounding 4,000 and arresting over 12,000.”
He also referred to the leading role played by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK) “Resistance Units” during the Iran protests and wrote, “The courageous People’s Mojahedin of Iran/ Mojahedin-e-Khalq (PMOI/MEK) resistance units who have played a central role in organizing the uprising, will not be cowed by Ghaani’s arrival on the scene. ”
Recounting the bogus claim of the Iranian regime in taking a so-called “Harsh Revenge” on the United States for eliminating Soleimani and Ghaani’s role in this show, Mr. Stevenson wrote: “But Ghaani’s immediate priority, on orders from the supreme leader, will be to avenge the assassination of Soleimani. He will certainly have supervised the launch of more than 20 missiles targeting two American military bases in Iraq in the early hours of 7th January,” but “The missiles caused no casualties and limited damage.”
“We can be certain that all is not well in Iran. Ghaani will assuredly now be engaged in detailed planning for a major terrorist outrage,” Mr. Stevenson continued, concluding that Ghaani “will be keen to show Iran’s supreme leader that he is a worthy successor to Soleimani and his only credible way of doing that will be by executing an act of unspeakable horror against the enemies of the Islamic Republic. Soleimani’s blood-spattered demise should act as a warning to Ghaani, that like the Mafia Godfathers of old, there is no impunity for the perpetrators of evil.”
Struan Stevenson is the Coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change (CiC). He was a member of the European Parliament representing Scotland (1999-2014), president of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq (2009-14) and chairman of the Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup (2004-14). He is an international lecturer on the Middle East and president of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA)