Cleverly refuses to commit to IRGC ban but says relations with Israel ‘important and key’

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has insisted the UK’s relationship with Israel is an “important and key one” after refusing one again to commit to proscribing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The minister was reminded of the recently signed roadmap for bilateral relations with Israel, signed by himself and his Israeli counterpart, which Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers said committed the UK to “working closely with Israel on the threat caused by Iran.”

Villiers then asked whether the agreement included “proscription of the IRGC” by the government.
Cleverly responded during Tuesday’s foreign questions session in the Commons saying:”I’ve spoken regularly about the process by which proscriptions are made.

“We don’t routinely speculate on future proscriptions. Our relationship with Israel is a key one and an important one.”

In another question put to the minister by the Tory MP Greg Smith, Cleverly was asked about the  Mac 15 missile unveiled and “widely celebrated” by the IRGC in Tehran.

Last week Iran’s state television said the missile — called Fattah, or “Conqueror” in Farsi — has a range of up to 870 miles, and claimed, without evidence, it could  pass through any regional missile defence system.

Cleverly responded saying:”We continue to work closely particularly with the E3, the United States of America and our partners in the region to dissuade Iran from increasing its militaristic presence.

“We continue to maintain our policy that they should never be a nuclear weapons state.” 
Cleverly added “we also keep a very close eye on other weapons technology development.”