As the new Trump administration in Washington
continues to weigh how to confront Tehran’s hostilities carried out through its
Revolutionary Guards (IRGC),
the Iranian opposition, National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
held a press conference in London on Tuesday shedding important light on
methods used by the IRGC to cloak its export of terrorism and smuggling
activities.
According to information gathered by sources
associated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)
inside Iranian regime apparatus, the Guards currently own 90 docks, mainly on
Iran’s southern shores. This accounts for around 45 percent of the 212 piers
officially registered in Iran.
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These docks are used by the IRGC to
provide much-needed arms, explosives, ammunition and other such equipment to
militia groupsacting on behalf of the Iranian regime as proxies throughout
the Middle East. Such a policy of providing lethal ordinance by Tehran to these
entities has become common knowledge, especially in the past several years.
The docks have a history dating back to the early
1980s, according to the NCRI, when Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the
Iranian regime, tasked its then fledgling Guards to establish this now vast
network of peers. The sought objective was meant to allow the IRGC bypass all
state supervision, escape customs restrictions and keep international
monitoring in the dark about its activities.
Ali Khamenei, the current Iranian regime supreme
leader, has followed suit and missioned the IRGC through the past three decades
to increase the number of these piers, named the “Bahman Docks” in the Iranian
regime.
The Guards have taken the utmost advantage of these
docks to increase their grip over Iran’s economy. Today, the IRGC is known to control
a large swathe of the
country’s imports and exports, literally flooding the market with cheap goods
and placing the heavy burden on local production lines and trade.
Reports indicate the IRGC enjoys a shocking $12
billion in annual revenue obtained through such a network of illegal trade.
Considering the force’s track record, one can easily conclude a large
percentage of such money is later allocated to Iran’s support for global
terrorism and regional
meddling, nuclear
program, ballistic
missile drive and the
campaign to obtain a variety of weapons of mass destruction.
The NCRI was also able to provide names and images
(Enclosed), of a long slate of different docks and shipping firms, used as
front companies by Iran to cloak its actual intentions. It is also worth noting
the Guards have through the years gained control and ownership of numerous
large oil tankers. Such assets are used to rent to foreign governments in order
channel in even more revenue.
The Iranian opposition went on to add the arms
transfer flow by the IRGC through the mentioned docks and shipping companies is
an ongoing phenomenon. Unfortunately, the international community has only
unveiled and blocked a small percentage of this dangerous trend.
These revelations come at a time of escalating
tensions between the U.S. and Iran, especially after the Trump administration
placed Tehran “on notice” following a medium-range ballistic missile test on
Jan. 29. Such troubles have increased following a new double
ballistic missile launchconducted on Saturday and Sunday, and a new
encounter caused by
IRGC fast-attack boats coming within 600 yards of the U.S. Navy surveillance
ship, the Invincible, in a move described as “unsafe and unprofessional” by a
U.S. official.
Word in Washington continues to indicate the fact
that the Trump White House, involved in a complete overhaul of the Obama
administration’s failed appeasement policy, continues to weigh designating the IRGC
as a foreign terrorist organization.
The new Iranian opposition revelations make such a
move all the more necessary.
Shahriar
Kia is an Iranian dissident and a political analyst writing about Iran and the
Middle East. He is the member of the Iranian opposition and he graduated
from North Texas University. He tweets at @shahriarkia
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