Response to interpellation 2023/24:11 on Iran

Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)

Mr. Speaker! Alexandra Völker has asked me how I and the government are working to create unity among the EU's member states so that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard should be blacklisted. Furthermore, she asks how I and the government are working to support the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom and democracy.

The Government views the situation in Iran with the utmost seriousness, which remains very difficult. As Alexandra Völker notes, it is now one year since Mahsa Jina Amini died in the custody of the authorities and the nationwide protests broke out in Iran. The Swedish Government has consistently expressed its strong support for the Iranians, not least women and girls, who – often at the risk of their lives – have peacefully demonstrated for their human rights during the past year. Protests have often been met with brutal violence from the Iranian authorities. Hundreds of people have died in connection with the protests. Thousands have been arrested. Several persons linked to the protests have been executed, and many more risk being sentenced to death. Even though the demonstrations in Iran have now subsided, a widespread discontent remains in Iranian society with human rights continuing to be violated.

The Government has strongly condemned the Iranian authorities' violence against peaceful protesters and other human rights violations in Iran in statements and in direct talks with Iranian representatives, including at the ministerial level.

It is also strategically important for Sweden to be able to act through the EU and the UN to ensure that our messages and also the measures taken gain broad traction and thus become as effective as possible.

Iran is also one of the countries that has been raised most often at the ministerial level within the EU during the past year, often at Swedish initiative. In December 2022, Sweden was one of the countries advocating for new council conclusions on Iran, which resulted in a tightened Iran policy from the EU's side. The EU has also, ten times during the past year, tightened sanctions against Iranian actors who are judged to bear direct responsibility for human rights violations in Iran.

Sweden continues to be proactive within the EU to increase the political pressure on Iran. Sweden has actively supported the decision within the EU to develop a new sanctions package ahead of the anniversary of Mahsa Jina Amini's death. Among those listed are, among others, an assistant commander within the Revolutionary Guard's security headquarters, regional police commanders, and some of Iran's most notorious prisons. Ahead of the anniversary, Sweden has also been active in the preparation of a joint EU declaration. In the declaration, it is emphasized that the EU continues to review the tools available to address the human rights situation in Iran.

Sweden has during the spring of 2023 in the role of presidency, but also before and after the presidency, worked for the most powerful possible line against the Iranian regime's oppression within the framework of EU unity. To achieve this goal, we use the tools that have the best conditions to have the intended effect and exclude in this no future action. Together with other EU member states, we continue to analyze the situation and discuss possible further measures, including sanctions.

Sweden is working to create EU unity to terrorist-list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, IRGC, and works for this line with customary diplomatic work. According to the legal act, unity is required to make such a decision, and after active consultations with other member states, it appears that unity within the EU for a terrorist listing of IRGC is still lacking.

Unity is of central importance for the EU's credibility and the possibility to influence the situation and must be safeguarded. Sweden continues to work within the EU for a powerful and united Iran policy in order to provide international support for the Iranian population's legitimate demands for human rights.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Alexandra Völker (S)

Mr. Speaker! It has now been one year since Jina Mahsa Amini was beaten to death by the Iranian morality police - killed because she, according to them, wore her veil in the wrong way.

For decades, the people of Iran, and especially the women of Iran, have lived under enormous oppression. During the past year, we have been able to follow how the people in Iran are fighting for their right to live freely, for democracy, and against the regime.

When women in Iran go out without a veil, they do so at risk to their own lives. To manifest against the regime by demanding their rights - their human rights, rights that should be self-evident - and saying that enough is enough requires enormous courage and is done with their lives at stake. The regime has also made it clear. During this year, we have seen how the regime has responded to the struggle for freedom with enormous brutality - with violence, with murder, and with torture.

It is good that the EU has united around several sanction packages. But to say that Sweden has made the issue of Iran come up at meetings with the EU's foreign ministers, I am anything but impressed. When was Iran actually a separate item on the EU's agenda for the last time?

During the half-year that Sweden held the presidency in the EU, and thus had a special position and the opportunity to influence the agenda, was Iran a separate item on the agenda only once? Was it not precisely this—that Iran was not a separate item on the agenda—that made it so difficult for us in the opposition and for the Riksdag to make our voices heard? If something is not a separate item on the agenda, the EU Committee does not have the opportunity to act.

All spring, we worked to ensure that the Foreign Minister and the government would work to achieve a terror listing. After much back and forth, we finally got a unanimous Riksdag that stood behind an announcement that the government would work to create unity within the EU to terror-list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

The fact that we are pursuing the issue of whether the revolutionary guard should be blacklisted is because it is important. That a united Riksdag stood behind the announcement was because it was important.

The Revolutionary Guard acts as terrorist organizations act and should therefore be classified as such. Through the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian regime practices terrorism. The Revolutionary Guard murders, kidnaps, and tortures. It acts against Iran's population and acts outside the country's borders. It uses the same tactics as al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs points out in his interpellation response that consensus is required to achieve a terror designation. We are fully aware of that. It is also precisely for that reason that the announcement states that the government shall work to create unity. That is the point of the announcement: to work for it. Consensus, after all, does not create itself. Sweden must take the lead and actively work to unite the member countries in listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization under the EU's sanctions legislation against terrorism.

It has now been over three months since the Riksdag stood behind the announcement. Is the Foreign Minister actively working to actually gather the member countries to designate the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Kadir Kasirga (S)

Mr. Speaker! First and foremost, I would like to thank my fellow Member of Parliament Alexandra Völker for having posed this important question. I would also like to thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the answer.

Jina Mahsa Amini may have been murdered, but her name and the memory of her will always remain. Jina has become a symbol for all women in Iran who demand to live in a democratic Iran built on freedom for all who live there. The regime strives to the utmost to kill all roses. But they will never be able to prevent spring from coming to Iran.

Mr. Speaker! What has happened during the past year, since the protests broke out, regarding the fundamental human rights in Iran? We see that women continue to burn images of Iran's religious leaders. We see that women continue to cut off their hair in protest against the regime. We also see the brave women who still stand with clenched fists and resolutely chant: Woman, life, freedom! Zan, zendegi, azadi! Jin, jiyan, azadi!

Mr. Speaker! I have listened carefully to the Foreign Minister's response to the interpellation. I am reacting to one word in the response. The Foreign Minister says that protests have often been met with brutal violence from Iranian authorities and that hundreds of people have died in connection with the protests. I recall that people die in traffic accidents, earthquakes, and natural disasters. In these protests, people have been brutally, cold-bloodedly murdered by the Iranian regime. Here I must object to the response.

Mr. Speaker! The Islamic Revolutionary Guard is not a regular military unit belonging to the regular Iranian army. It is an independent organization. In the name, it does not even say Iran or Iranian before the Guard. They do not only operate within Iran's borders. They also operate outside Iran's borders, in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon, on the Arabian Peninsula and also in Europe.

In Sweden, our authority Säkerhetspolisen, Säpo, has even established that the Iranian regime conducts both industrial and counter-espionage, but they also engage in mapping Swedes of Iranian origin who live in the diaspora.

I cannot provide a translation because you have not provided a text from the Swedish Riksdag to translate. Please provide the text you would like me to translate.

(Applause)

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Serkan Köse (S)

Mr. Speaker! I would also like to begin by thanking my colleague Alexandra Völker for taking the initiative for this important debate where we are given the opportunity to discuss the horrific crimes against humanity that are taking place in Iran. I would also like to thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the response.

Mr. Speaker! We can and must not remain silent while innocent lives are extinguished by the Iranian regime. It has been, as said, one year since Jina Mahsa Amini was brutally murdered by the regime's so-called morality police, and her death became a turning point. It led to nationwide protests and ignited a spark of resistance against the regime's oppression.

What has happened over the past year? We see an increasingly repressive regime that lacks legitimacy and poses a direct threat not only to its own people but also to Europe, Sweden, and every corner of the free world. It is a regime that intensifies its grip, continues its destabilizing activities in the Middle East, and maintains relations with countries such as Russia and North Korea, all while developing its nuclear technology.

To meet this growing threat, immediate and powerful measures are required, Mr. Speaker. We need a new Swedish and European Iran policy that correctly reflects the real threat from Iran and that corresponds to the wishes of an overwhelming majority of the Iranian people. The sanctions policy against the regime in Iran due to human rights violations is good, but it is obvious that it is insufficient. Regime representatives and their relatives still travel to Europe, the USA, and other places to enjoy the freedom that is lacking in Iran.

Mr. Speaker! At the same time, Amnesty International reports that executions are occurring in frightening numbers. The trials have been sham trials where confessions have been extracted under torture. Amnesty also highlights how Iranian authorities have subjected the victims' families to arbitrary arrests and detentions. Security forces have desecrated graves and destroyed tombstones, and family members have been arrested and prevented from holding ceremonies at their relatives' graves.

Mr. Speaker! Jina Mahsa Amini's family and many others have spoken publicly about the damage to the graves of their loved ones and how the authorities have hindered their access to these places of sorrow and memory. Jina Mahsa Amini's grave has become a symbol of collective comfort, solidarity, and a determination to seek justice.

The Iranian regime's cruelty knows no bounds. The victims' families, who have sought justice, truth, and reparations, have been subjected to threats and violence. It is a continued escalation of persecution and intimidation campaigns against them, all to force silence and fear of reprisals.

Mr. Speaker! Behind all of this lies the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, which is a major economic and political actor that spreads and defends Islamist ideology and has caused indescribable suffering both within and outside the country's borders. Against this, powerful measures are needed: tightened entry bans, increased pressure on the Iranian regime and, above all, support for the democratic movement within the country. We must act now, with strength, determination and without compromise, Mr. Speaker.

In view of this, I would like to ask a question to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Given the Iranian regime's and the Revolutionary Guard's lack of legitimacy and its destabilizing actions at regional, national, and global levels, I wonder what prevents Sweden and the Minister for Foreign Affairs from pushing even harder in the EU to designate the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

(Applause)

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Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Mr. Speaker! The Minister for Foreign Affairs mentions in his response to the interpellator Alexandra Völker that the protests in Iran have ceased. That is to downplay the Iranian people's struggle which has been ongoing for a year, and it is to legitimize the Iranian regime and its apparatus of violence.

One can legitimize and normalize the brutal Iranian regime in several ways, for example by actively seeking out the Iranian Foreign Minister during UNGA week in New York and standing by his side in a photo, moreover smiling. Does Foreign Minister Tobias Billström not see how it can be perceived by all those who have lost their loved ones in the struggle for freedom and how it is perceived by all freedom fighters who today sit in Iran's prisons? Does the Foreign Minister not see how it can be perceived by all women who, with their lives at stake, still take to Iran's streets and refuse to wear the veil?

Taking a stand - it can happen in many ways. It can happen through large actions and political decisions, but it can also happen through small, symbolic actions. This prompts my question: What was it that lay behind the Foreign Minister's smile after his conversation with Iran's Foreign Minister?

(Applause)

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Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thanks to the interpellator and other participants for the contributions!

I naturally fully share the interpellant's view on the situation in Iran. Mahsa Jina Aminis death a year ago led to nationwide protests. We also saw how Iranian authorities responded to the expressions of discontent with violent repression, not least in Sistan and Baluchistan and in Aminis home region Kurdistan.

The repression has had a deterrent effect. It has scared people from gathering in large groups to express their opinions, and at the same time, it is clear that the underlying discontent in Iranian society persists.

Many Iranians have paid a high price for their struggle for human rights. They deserve the international community's clear support, not only in words but also through concrete actions to hold those behind the abuses and human rights violations accountable.

Alexandra Völker asked when Iran last constituted an item on the agenda. It was in December last year, and it was partly our proposal. At that time, these council conclusions were also adopted. It is not the Swedish government, neither now nor in its capacity as chairing country, that decides on the agenda. That is done by the High Representative of the EU. But we have, of course, at the times when we have had the opportunity, worked to influence this – and also achieved success, as last year.

Sweden is constantly working to create EU unity to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard on the terror list in accordance with the Riksdag's announcement. As mentioned in my response, however, it appears from active inquiries with other member states within the EU that there is still a lack of unity for this. This is largely due to the fact that the legal criteria for listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization are not met. For an individual or an organization to be subject to the EU's terrorism sanctions, a national decision from the competent authority, for example a court, is required, which establishes that the individual or entity has been involved in a terrorist act or preparation for a terrorist act.

The EU, however, has more tools in its toolbox. As mentioned on previous occasions, the EU has used the sanctions framework specifically aimed at serious human rights violations in Iran to react and signal against the individuals and entities that have been responsible for the repression of peaceful protesters. While the specific purpose of terrorist listing is to prevent terrorism and the financing of terrorism, the human rights regime can be used to list responsible individuals and units within the IRGC as well as other actors who have been involved in violations of human rights in Iran.

Among the entities with links to the IRGC that have been sanctioned under the MR regime during the past year are a number of regional IRGC units, including in Kurdistan and Sistan and Baluchistan, several of the IRGC's Quds bases and the IRGC's own investment fund. Among other important actors that have been listed are Iran's morality police, the Basij force's youth militia, special security and intervention forces within the police, and certain prosecutors and prison administrations. Currently, there are 227 individuals and 43 entities listed under this sanctions regime.

The MR sanctions consist, among other things, of asset freezes in the EU and entry bans in the EU for listed individuals. They also include export bans on products to Iran that could be used for domestic repression. The EU has thus taken sharp and concrete measures to counter impunity for those who have been leading the repression in Iran. We continue to utilize the entire toolbox, bilaterally and within the EU and the UN, in response to the brutal repression that we have seen of the protests in Iran.

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Alexandra Völker (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Foreign Affairs, for the answer!

It is true that it was in December last year that this was last a separate item on the EU's agenda. I and all of us Social Democrats remember that very well, because even then we really tried to ensure that it would be the government's position to actively work to have the revolutionary guard blacklisted. We and the other opposition parties wanted the government to enter the presidency with the position that this was what was to be achieved. But that did not happen, because the government parties did not want it, and neither did the Sweden Democrats.

Revolutionsgardet is an organization that spreads fear far beyond its own country's borders. It is an organization that acts as a terrorist organization. It should therefore be classified as such.

Despite it being early Friday morning, a large number of people are sitting in the gallery to listen today. They have come here to get answers on what the government is actually doing to unite the member states to blacklist the Revolutionary Guard. That one is making "active inquiries" I do not interpret as actively working for this. It is rather to ask what others' positions are. What the announcement says is that one shall work to create consensus. I ask again, therefore: How is the Foreign Minister and the government acting to unite the member states to blacklist the Revolutionary Guard?

(Applause)

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Kadir Kasirga (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister for Foreign Affairs! But I must still say that I have not received answers to the questions I asked in the previous intervention. First and foremost - does the Minister for Foreign Affairs consider that the hundreds of people who lost their lives in the protests and who have fallen victim to the brutal regime in Iran died in some traffic accident or earthquake? We must use the right words. We cannot just hide behind the so-called diplomatic game. Sometimes one must call a spade a spade.

Mr. Speaker! My parliamentary colleague Alexandra Völker has asked many reasonable questions to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, but they still remain for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to answer. This also concerns the question I asked regarding whether the Minister for Foreign Affairs considers the revolutionary guard to be a threat to Sweden.

A very large number of Swedes have gathered here in the stands. Many of them have long experience of persecution and oppression. I can guarantee that many of them are also afraid. A clear and distinct position from the government was needed. Does the government consider the revolutionary guard to be a threat to national security or not?

(Applause)

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Serkan Köse (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Foreign Affairs, for the answer! But I want to agree with my colleagues' criticism that the Minister for Foreign Affairs does not quite answer the questions. I asked a question about how the government intends to support democratic forces and movements in Iran.

Despite the heartbreaking atrocities that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the regime subject their own people to, Mr. Speaker, at least I have not seen any official or anyone from the police or the Guard held accountable for their devastating brutalities or for the deaths they have caused.

It is therefore, Mr. Speaker, inevitably our duty to act and resist but also to continue to highlight these violations of human rights in Iran. A powerful and determined policy against the regime is not only important, Mr. Speaker – it is crucial for our own security and for global stability, as my colleagues have pointed out earlier.

Again: There are many of us here in the Riksdag chamber, but also in the gallery, demanding that the government act decisively so that the Revolutionary Guard is classified as a terrorist organization. The Foreign Minister responds with a list of what the regime and the Guard do, but he still chooses not to go all the way and say that it is a terrorist organization. The organization has enormous economic resources, Mr. Speaker. It finances, arms, and trains other terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East. What more is required on this list for the Foreign Minister and the EU to say that it is a terrorist organization?

Mr. Speaker! It is against this background that we in Sweden must redefine our relationship with Iran. We must introduce stricter entry bans, designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, and speak openly about our support for the Iranian democratic force within the country. It is then, Mr. Speaker, that the slogan woman, life, freedom - jin, jiyan, azadi - becomes most alive both inside and outside Iran.

(Applause)

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Azadeh Rojhan (S)

Mr. Speaker! Unfortunately, I also did not receive any answer to my question to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Based on the experiences I have from our interpellation debates, I actually harbor no hopes of receiving one either. Unfortunately, it usually does not result in much of an answer.

I still think it is important to point out here that, in addition to the major actions that my colleagues have touched upon in various ways – the major political decisions that are needed to truly condemn the Iranian regime's brutal abuses against its own population but also against the rest of the world – we also need to show clearly when we have the opportunity in our smaller actions that we distance ourselves from the Iranian regime. We must not normalize or in any way legitimize this brutal regime. But we do. We do it when we pose for photos with them. We do it when we do it with a smile. We do it when the Iranian regime can then use the same photo to spread it in their own media and talk about how they have had productive conversations with the Swedish government. It is perceived as the Swedish government speaking with a double tongue.

If Foreign Minister Tobias Billström wants to stand by the Iranian people, he must also consider how he acts and what signals he sends. Right now, thousands of people are imprisoned, and they wonder: Who takes up our struggle? Who stands up for our rights? Why does one actively seek out Iran's Foreign Minister and pose for a photo with him, moreover with a smile on their lips?

(Applause)

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Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)

Mr. Speaker! I have already in my interpellation response elaborated on how the government continues to work actively to support Iranians who are fighting for their human rights. Within the UN, among other things with strong support from Sweden, an independent mechanism has been established to investigate human rights violations in Iran following Mahsa Jina Aminis death. These experts gave an oral report on July 5 this year. A written report that we look forward to is expected at the beginning of next year.

The EU is our most important platform for Iran policy. The EU has acted resolutely, not least through joint statements and sanctions against, among other things, important actors within the IRGC. Sweden has been proactive in this work. Unity is completely central, but it does not prevent us from actively contributing to forward-looking, sharp measures.

Mr. Speaker! The most important tasks for us in the international arena are to show our support for the Iranian people, who demand their human rights, and to set clear demands on the Iranian regime. We need to continue to do this with the same strength and unity as during the past year.

One thing I want to emphasize, Mr. Speaker: We must never lose our focus on the people who are most affected by the ongoing human rights violations. Our actions must therefore aim to support them. It is therefore crucial that the EU uses the tools that have the best conditions to actually influence the situation. This requires long-term thinking and a broad palette of measures. No single measure will be sufficient, while at the same time we should not exclude any measure. The Government is always ready to adapt the policy and to use the tools that are applicable and that have the best conditions to have the intended effect in any given situation.

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Alexandra Völker (S)

Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the answer, and I thank all of you who have participated in the debate. It is of course good that the Minister for Foreign Affairs shares the picture of the situation in Iran. But there are still several parts in the Minister for Foreign Affairs' answer that I find extremely worrying. My colleague Azadeh has already pointed out what is stated in the answer regarding the fact that the protests have now subsided. This is also something the Iranian regime has done everything to ensure. Everything has been done to suppress the protests. If this is the picture that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has, a picture that I have also heard raised earlier, it is extremely worrying, because despite everything the regime does, the people have continued to protest against it, for the most part.

The Iranian regime is an apparatus of violence that uses brutal violence against its own population but also uses violence against the populations of other countries. The regime kidnaps citizens of other countries and pits its citizens' rights against the rights of other citizens. It is a brutal regime.

Regarding Revolutionsgardet: If an organization acting as a terrorist organization cannot be classified as such, we must probably reflect a bit on the system and what it is that is actually required. I truly hope that the government acts fully in accordance with the Riksdag's announcement and acts so that we can achieve a terrorist classification of Revolutionsgardet.

Woman, life, freedom! Jin, jiyan, azadi!

(Applause)

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Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)

Mr. Speaker! It is clearly important that the rest of the world continues to focus attention on the situation in Iran. Sweden continues to do everything we can to contribute to a strong international pressure that effectively counters the repression, supports the people's demands for human rights, and clearly marks that Iran's actions have international consequences.

At the same time, the EU, including Sweden, has taken as a starting point to maintain diplomatic channels with Iran in order to be able to safeguard interests and convey views, including sharp criticism. For Sweden, this is also an absolute prerequisite in order to be able to act in difficult consular matters. As the Prime Minister mentioned in the Government Bill, the government is working intensively on the cases where Swedish citizens have been deprived of their liberty in Iran. Here we also have support from the EU, whose 27 member states as recently as September 15 this year in a joint statement urged Iranian authorities to respect human rights and to immediately cease arbitrary detentions, including of EU citizens and individuals with dual citizenship. They must be released immediately.

The objective of everything we do is to effectively influence the situation in Iran, work for real change and safeguard central Swedish interests. This must always be the focus for the work we carry out in this area.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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