SEVERAL questions were raised when the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warship ‘Shahid Mahdavi’ berthed at Port Klang recently.
The Iranian warship was accompanied by the navy’s destroyer, ‘Dena’.
The two military vessels had undertaken an extended mission in international waters, crossing the Equator after navigating the Bay of Bengal and passing through waters off Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka.
Several of my acquaintances questioned why Malaysian authorities had allowed the ‘Shahid Mahdavi’ – belonging to a ‘terrorist organisation’ to berth here.
The first question here is whether the IRGC a ‘terrorist organisation’ as alleged by some quarters?
Not to be confused with Iran’s traditional armed forces, the IRGC is a parallel military body formed during the Islamic Revolution in 1979. It maintains its own air, land, and naval branches and protects Iran’s fundamentalist regime.
Widely considered to be a ‘terrorist’ organisation, the IRGC is under heavy sanctions. It saw extensive service during the eight year war with Iraq and has a presence in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, promoting and safeguarding Iranian national interests.
The IRGC is composed of ground, naval, and air forces, and includes other components -such as an internal security militia (the Basij) and an external operations force, the IRGC-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
The IRGC-QF is one of the Iranian regime’s primary organisations responsible for conducting covert lethal activities outside of Iran, including asymmetric and terrorist operations.
Source » thevibes