May 24 – The UK Home Office said it would be considering proscribing several Iran-backed groups as terrorist organizations following the publication of a report about the legal gaps in British law which make it impossible to currently list such groups.
The announcement, made by British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday comes after the foiling of a significant terror plot on UK soil and the arrest of several Iranian men believed to be connected to the plot.
The announcement could lead to the listing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization in Britain which is believed to be responsible for several attacks on Iranian dissidents in the UK.
Iran’s government has ramped up its deportation of Afghan migrants in the country following an influx of Afghans after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Iran is currently the world’s largest refugee-hosting country, with an estimated 6 million Afghans in Iran, most of whom are Sunni Muslims.
Tehran said the move was designed to ease economic pressure on the Islamic Republic, a majority Shia Muslim state.
And Oman said Iran and the U.S. would be holding their fifth round of talks about Iran’s nuclear program in Rome on Friday.
The talks have hit a stalemate, with the U.S. telling Iran to abandon its current nuclear program while Iran has refused to stop its enrichment of uranium calling the request “outrageous.”
The West has in recent years said it would never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, while Iran has said it is seeking to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes, a claim which has been questioned by U.S. officials.
