Calls are being made to close a British charity run by the UK representative of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after the aid watchdog removed its trustees.
The Charity Commission announced on Wednesday it had removed the trustees from the board of the Islamic Centre of England over its links to Iran.
It has previously received warnings from the watchdog after an unofficial speaker at the centre, Massoud Shadjareh, praised Qassem Suleimani, the deceased commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.
He had called Suleimani, who the UK had designated as a terrorist, a “dedicated soldier of Islam”. Suleimani was killed by a US drone strike in January 2020.
In another incident last year, trustee Seyed Hashem Moosavi made controversial remarks about protesters in Iran, calling them “soldiers of Satan”.
On Thursday, the Tony Blair Institute, a think tank, led calls for the centre to be closed down.
“The Islamic Centre of England, which operates as the official office of Ayatollah Khamenei in the UK and is headed by Khamenei's official representative to the UK, has consistently propagated Islamist extremist views and hosted IRGC-affiliated activities in its premises,” Kasra Aarabi, Iran programme lead at the Tony Blair Institute, told The National.
“In doing so, it has clearly violated Charity Commission guidelines on safeguarding against extremism. The Charity Commission’s recent ruling on the Islamic Centre of England is a welcome step and efforts should now be focused on permanently closing the centre, which is a direct threat to both Britain’s national security and British values.”
An interim manager was appointed last week.
The move comes after the charity became the subject of a statutory inquiry by the regulator in November 2022 over serious concerns about its governance.
The chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Alicia Kearns described the move as a “significant sanction”.
“This is the first step for all of us who have long campaigned for the closure of this cut out of the IRGC,” she said.
“It makes clear that all is not well, and I hope the inquiry will conclude that the IRGC has no place operating on British soil.
“This is a significant sanction and one of the most powerful interventions they have.”
Last year The National revealed the charity had received about £240,000 ($300,465) — £129,556 in 2021 and £109,476 in 2020 — from the government’s Covid-19 furlough programme.
It was given the funding despite having received an official warning from the Charity Commission.
In the latest inquiry, the commission ruled that the trustees had failed to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities, while neglecting to protect the charity’s assets.
Iran's plots against foreign officials and dissidents — in pictures
UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat has welcomed the decision to remove the trustees.
“In recent months, I've warned often about the threat that Iran poses to us here in the United Kingdom,” he said.
“The actions of the Iranian [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard Corps and its agents have put lives in danger in our own country.
“Its leadership [was] appointed by the head of the Islamic republic of Iran and it is reported to have celebrated the lives of people like Gen Suleimani, the head of the IRGC [Quds Force], who [did] so much to spread hatred, death and destruction, not just in the Middle East, but around the world.”
British-Iranian hunger striker Vahid Beheshti, who is campaigning to have Iran's IRGC listed as a terrorist group, has also backed the move.
“The inquiry will indeed conclude that the IRGC has no place operating on British soil,” he said.
“Our campaign to proscribe the IRGC is backed with irrefutable evidence, and we will not give up until this is done. #IRGCterrorists have no place in the UK, in Iran, or anywhere in the world.”
Britain has imposed sanctions on IRGC leaders but, as is the case with European allies, has so far stopped short of listing the organisation as a terrorist group.
The view from The National
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Iftar programme at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding
Established in 1998, the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding was created with a vision to teach residents about the traditions and customs of the UAE. Its motto is ‘open doors, open minds’. All year-round, visitors can sign up for a traditional Emirati breakfast, lunch or dinner meal, as well as a range of walking tours, including ones to sites such as the Jumeirah Mosque or Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.
Every year during Ramadan, an iftar programme is rolled out. This allows guests to break their fast with the centre’s presenters, visit a nearby mosque and observe their guides while they pray. These events last for about two hours and are open to the public, or can be booked for a private event.
Until the end of Ramadan, the iftar events take place from 7pm until 9pm, from Saturday to Thursday. Advanced booking is required.
For more details, email openminds@cultures.ae or visit www.cultures.ae
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The details
Heard It in a Past Life
Maggie Rogers
(Capital Records)
3/5
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
