Response to interpellation 2023/24:221 on the terrorist designation of the IRGC

Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)

Madam Speaker! I have been asked how the government has handled the Riksdag's announcement that the government shall work towards a terrorist designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, IRGC, at a European level, what concrete steps the government and I have taken for this to become a reality, and whether I intend to take any initiatives in light of any potential obstacles to this.

As I have previously answered in several question periods and answers to parliamentary questions and interpellations during the year - most recently in an interpellation debate on 29 September - Sweden appears to be continuously working to create EU unity to terrorist-list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in accordance with the Riksdag's announcement. Sweden conducts customary diplomatic work to advocate for our position and has actively consulted other EU member states on the issue. We have also expressed our support for a listing in the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, abbreviated as Kusp.

It remains the case, however, that the legal prerequisites for the EU to be able to list the Revolutionary Guard under the EU's terrorism sanctions are not met.

For an individual or organization to be listed under the EU's terrorism sanctions, a national decision from the competent authority, for example a court, is required, establishing that the individual or entity has been involved in a terrorist act or preparation for a terrorist act. No such basis for listing has yet been presented by any member state. This means that there is still a lack of broad support within the EU for such a listing.

As is known, the EU has, however, acted forcefully against the IRGC with other available sanction tools. The IRGC as an entity, and the Quds Force, were already sanctioned in 2010 under the sanctions regime against Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Many commanders and units within the IRGC have also been listed under the MR sanctions regime against Iran, not least through the ten sanction packages adopted during the past year.

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Alireza Akhondi (C)

Madam Speaker! I cannot hide my disappointment over how arrogantly the Minister chooses to handle adequate questions concerning his performance of his duties. Had it been possible, I would have asked Madam Speaker to adjourn this interpellation debate pending the Minister sitting down and actually formulating an answer to my questions.

Let me remind Minister Tobias Billström of the following: Interpellation debates are not something one simply brushes aside. For us elected representatives, it is an important tool for demanding answers from the government. Let me also inform the Minister that there are more tools for us in this chamber if the Minister continues to ignore the decisions that this chamber, in full agreement across party lines, has made. It can absolutely be a question of both a KU report and a vote of no confidence if this continues. We do not accept that our decisions become subjects of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' fallacies regarding the legal grounds for our decision.

The Minister stated in his response: "In order for an individual or organization to be listed under the EU's terrorism sanctions, a national decision from the competent authority, for example a court, is required, establishing that the individual or entity has been involved in a terrorist act or preparation for a terrorist act. No such basis for listing has yet been presented by any member state."

At the same time, the Minister stated that the IRGC was sanctioned in another sanctions regime as early as 2010. Here, the Minister is seriously misleading the House. The Minister has already received statements from legal experts in EU law which clearly confirm that the Union's treaties do not require any court decision for the possibility to act. Let me remind Minister Tobias Billström of the cases of Hamas and Hezbollah and that there was no court decision when these were listed as terrorists. Nor was there a court decision when the IRGC was listed under another sanctions regime in 2010.

According to the European Union's Common Position 2001/931/CFSP, the following applies: "Persons, groups and entities can be added to the list on the basis of proposals submitted by member states based on a decision by a competent authority of a member state or a third country. A request for delisting can be made by listed persons, groups and entities, by a member state or by a third country." Consequently, Sweden, by means of decisions in this chamber - we are competent to make decisions here - has all the possibilities to formally submit such a request.

This is not just about Iran, Tobias Billström, but in every respect, it is about European and Swedish security policy. It is about Ukraine, and it is about the extensive Iranian espionage on Swedish soil. It is about the situation in Ukraine, and it is about the situation in Israel and Palestine. It is about Quran burnings, it is about embassy stormings, and it is about refugee flows. Act now, Tobias Billström!

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Alexandra Völker (S)

Madam Speaker! I want to begin by thanking Alireza Akhondi for an incredibly important interpellation. It is important for us in the Riksdag to follow up on the announcement that we jointly directed to the government in May this year.

It is no secret that we Social Democrats, together with the rest of the opposition, had wished that the Foreign Minister and the government had been tasked with gathering the member countries for a terror listing as early as when we entered the EU presidency, so that it actually had been attended to during the half-year when Sweden held the gavel in the EU. But I am nevertheless glad that when we finally got through a clear decision in the Swedish Riksdag, it happened with a unanimous Riksdag. That is because this issue is so important.

Every day, people in Iran fight for their right to freedom and democracy. Every day, women risk their lives by doing things that should be completely obvious. Every day, the regime in Iran also demonstrates its brutality. Since our last interpellation debate, which took place on September 29 and which the Foreign Minister also refers to in his answer, another young woman has lost her life due to the morality police's brutality. Since our last interpellation debate, Hamas has also carried out a brutal act of terrorism in Israel – an act of terrorism where Israel has clearly pointed out Iran as being involved.

That is why I am once again surprised by the Foreign Minister's answer that it is not possible to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard because there is a lack of grounds for listing. Alireza Akhondi has already accounted for the possibilities that actually exist for making such a decision in the EU, so my questions are: Does the government take the threat from Iran seriously? Are the various events that could actually be grounds for terror listing being investigated, or does one choose to turn a blind eye?

That we are driving the issue of listing the revolutionary guard on the terror list is because it is important. That a united Riksdag has stood behind the announcement is because it is extremely important.

Just as I said in the previous debate: Revolutionsgardet acts as terrorist organizations act and should therefore be classified as such. Through Revolutionsgardet, the Iranian regime carries out terrorism.

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Kadir Kasirga (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank Alireza Akhondi for this important interpellation and these important questions.

When I see a crane, I think, and surely many with me, of the construction of housing, workplaces and the lifting of heavy steel, concrete blocks and iron. The crane can be seen as a symbol for building prosperity. It is a machine that has been invented by humans to make it easier for humans to lift heavy things.

Mr. Speaker, in authoritarian regimes like Iran, a crane is a tool for hanging innocent people in public places. Such a regime should have been obsolete. It is a regime that has survived by keeping people afraid, silent, and oppressed. It is deeply unfortunate.

Since 1979, Iran has been ruled by an Islamist regime that not only persecutes and oppresses its own citizens. This regime also actively works to spread its ideology by financing terrorist attacks and by supporting the most brutal terrorist groups with money, weapons, and training.

We see how Iran has moved forward its positions in the Middle East politically and militarily. Iran supports the religious fundamentalist movements in Iraq, backs Bashar al-Assad, the butcher from Damascus, trains and equips Hezbollah in Lebanon, and provides political, economic, and military support to the terrorist organization Hamas.

We saw with great horror what this support resulted in when Hamas, on October 7, 2023, reminded us of IS when they, using their methods, massacred innocent Israeli civilians. These attacks against civilians have also been hailed by the Mullah regime, which has given promises of continued support to Hamas. All this, which costs billions of kronor, is done by the Mullah regime while the people in Iran become poorer and the oppression from the regime against its own citizens continues.

Madam Speaker! To do all this dirty work, the regime has a tool known by the name Revolution Guard. The Revolution Guard's primary task is to defend and protect the Mullah regime at any cost. The Revolution Guard is also a tool to carry out the regime's transnational oppression and murder, that is to say, a tool to also persecute oppositionists against the Mullah regime who live in the diaspora. Here is a selection:

On 13 July 1989, the Iranian-Kurdish leader Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou was murdered in Vienna.

In Sweden, on September 6, 1990, the 50-year-old Kurdish native language teacher Efat Ghazi was murdered in Västerås.

On September 17, 1992, the Iranian-Kurdish leader Sadegh Sharafkandi was murdered in Berlin.

In October 2020, the Iranian-Swedish activist Habib Chaab was kidnapped when he visited Turkey. He was executed on May 6, 2023.

Madam Speaker! The list of criminal acts committed by the Iranian regime through the Revolutionary Guard can be long. In light of the illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, we need to take a more serious look at Iran and its criminal activities.

Madam Speaker! I would like to question Foreign Minister Tobias Billström on what measures the government has taken to stop the activities of the revolutionsgard in Sweden against Swedish national interests?

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Jacob Risberg (MP)

Madam Speaker! First and foremost, I would like to extend a big thank you to Alireza Akhondi, who has initiated today's important interpellation. I would also like to thank Foreign Minister Billström for coming here to answer the questions.

Since Hamas's horrific terror attacks against Israel on October 7 - and while Israel has carried out its retaliation in Gaza, with over 15,000 killed of whom more than a third are children - other atrocities have occurred in the world. The world's focus on Israel and Hamas is being exploited to carry out other crimes in the shadow of the humanitarian catastrophe and the war crimes ongoing in Gaza. One example of this is what we are here to discuss today, namely Iran and especially Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

During the 58 days that the war between Hamas and Israel has been ongoing, the regime in Iran has executed 127 people, including at least one child. Several of those executed are protesters who have protested against the regime since Jina Amini's death in September last year, i.e., people whose only crime is that they have stood up for a free and democratic Iran and for the human rights that are so self-evident to us that we hardly reflect on them.

The atrocities of the Revolutionary Guard do not occur only in Iran but extend far beyond the country's borders, as we have heard examples of. Even in Europe and in Sweden, exiled Iranians and others are persecuted, and since 2012, the Revolutionary Guard has carried out at least 33 different terrorist attacks in Europe. As if it were not enough to persecute and attack dissenting exiled Iranians, the Revolutionary Guard has clearly shown where they stand in the war in Ukraine by both sending drones to Russia and stationing a number of important military experts in Moscow to assist Russia in its violation of international law in the invasion of Ukraine.

Alireza, Alexandra and Kadir have asked excellent questions to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I also wonder if the Minister for Foreign Affairs has called the Iranian ambassador to protest against the massive executions in Iran over the last few weeks or if the Minister for Foreign Affairs has otherwise publicly protested against the dreadful developments we have seen in Iran.

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Markus Wiechel (SD)

Madam Speaker! I also want to thank Alireza Akhondi for this important interpellation.

The IRGC is not only the Iranian rogue regime's primary tool for terrorizing and oppressing its own people, but also its primary tool for carrying out acts of terror and committing horrific crimes in other countries. We have seen several examples of this. Most recently, we saw it, as others have pointed out, in Israel. The IRGC are the ones fueling that, and they provide significant support for Hamas and other terrorist groups operating in Israel that murder people indiscriminately.

I would like to draw the Foreign Minister's attention to the Social Democrats' involvement in this issue. Many of us will never forget how they acted when they were in government, how they invited Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and how Foreign Minister Ann Linde participated in the celebration of the Islamic Republic's national day. The celebration of the Islamic Revolution, which symbolizes the massive oppression we have seen in Iran since the revolution, was truly a low point in terms of handling Iran.

No one can believe that it would have been particularly different if the Social Democrats had been in power today, but it almost looks that way. That is why I would like to urge the Foreign Minister to be the bigger person here. The Social Democrats may have changed their stance when it comes to Iran - we do not know - but they are in opposition. Take advantage of the fact, Foreign Minister, that you can have the majority of the Riksdag - practically the entire Riksdag - behind you to have the absolutely toughest tone in the EU against the IRGC.

Madam Speaker! That is why I am disappointed. Instead, we see how, in further instances, people have acted passively. The signal policy, not least from the Foreign Minister's latest meeting with his Iranian counterpart in the USA a couple of months ago, needs a major overhaul.

In his interpellation answer, Billström says that Sweden is conducting ordinary diplomatic work to advocate for its position. This does not feel like a genuine commitment to what a parliamentary majority has already stated. Furthermore, the Foreign Minister says that he has expressed support for a listing in the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. Nor can this be interpreted as the government having pushed for the toughest possible line, which the EU Committee decided on.

The government has previously repeatedly referred to the chairmanship when it comes to why it has maintained a relatively low profile on this issue. I do not want to claim that I think it was the right way to act, as I rather saw this as a good opportunity to push for Iran to be on the agenda at all times. I do, however, have some understanding of the reasoning.

But now Sweden is no longer the chair, so the absolute minimum we can expect from the government is that they take the lead on this issue and do their utmost to achieve a terror listing of this despicable organization. Let me remind you that the Foreign Minister and the Swedish government now have a practically unanimous Riksdag behind them for this.

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Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)

Madam Speaker! As I have underlined in several previous answers to interpellations and answers to other parliamentary questions, Sweden has during the past year been one of the driving countries in putting Iran on the international agenda, including at the EU's foreign ministers' meetings, where Iran has been one of the most frequently recurring topics, largely thanks to our efforts. Sweden has also, both before and after its presidency, been a co-proposer of the sanction listings that have been adopted under the MR sanction regime against Iran. In total, as mentioned, ten new listing packages have been adopted since October last year. Among the entities with links to the IRGC that have been sanctioned under the MR regime during the past year are a number of different regional IRGC units in, among others, Kurdistan and Sistan and Baluchistan, several of the IRGC's Quds bases, and the IRGC's own investment fund.

A listing under the EU's terrorism sanctions regime needs to fulfill the criteria of the legal act. It has been stated several times that this is important. It must be supported by a decision from a judicial or equivalent national competent authority regarding a preliminary investigation, indictment, or judgment for terrorist acts or attempts thereof.

Currently, there are 227 individuals and 43 entities listed under this sanctions regime. The MR sanctions consist, among other things, of freezing of assets in the EU and, for listed individuals, an entry ban into the EU. They also include an export ban to Iran of products that can be used for domestic repression.

Madam Speaker! As I mentioned in my response to the interpellation, several of the IRGC's commanders have been sanctioned under the EU's non-proliferation regime for Iran, as has the IRGC in its entirety since 2010. Furthermore, the directorate for internal security at the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, MOIS, and several Iranian individuals who have been linked to acts of terrorism are listed under the EU's terrorism sanctions regime.

It is important that the rest of the world continues to pay attention to the situation in Iran. Sweden continues to work for strong international pressure that counters the repression that several of the participants in the interpellation debate have referred to, supports the people's demands for respect for human rights, and clearly marks that Iran's actions have international consequences. The objective of the measures we take is to influence the situation in Iran, work for real change, and safeguard central Swedish interests, including in consular matters.

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Alireza Akhondi (C)

Madam Speaker! First, a thank you to my colleagues for their commitment to the debate. I do not intend to make this a matter of party politics; rather, it is about Sweden's and Europe's security interests.

I have some follow-up questions for Tobias Billström that I hope he will choose to answer. When the Minister speaks about competent authority, I wonder: Is the Swedish Riksdag a competent authority? Is the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) a competent authority? Säpo arrested two Iranian citizens in Malmö for terrorist preparations in the aftermath of Qasem Soleimani's death in Iraq. People were arrested on the Öresund Bridge. The Iranian regime has carried out 33 attacks on European soil. Are those counted as acts of terrorism? What about Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi rebels and the terrorist groups in Iraq? Our own embassy in Baghdad was stormed by Iran-backed militia, is that counted as an act of terrorism?

The Minister for Foreign Affairs refers very much to the sanctions that have been issued. Let me explain how the Iranian regime bypasses all of them. Shell companies are registered in European or other countries, and then companies are set up inside Iran. Then one trades with these companies and brings in both monetary and other resources into Iran. In this way, all sanctions become completely meaningless. In Germany, the bank Varengold is the subject of sharp action by German authorities. We have names of five banks in the United Arab Emirates that launder the Islamic regime's money, and we have names of banks in Turkey, France and Canada as well as exchange offices that do the same.

My question to Tobias Billström is: Does the Minister want to continue to refer to meaningless European sanctions that are not being followed?

I can send an article in The Guardian to the Minister after the debate about that there are 52 European components in the drones that Russia has purchased from Iran. How is it that European components are used by Iran in terror against another country?

Madam Speaker! I am disappointed, truly disappointed. The other day I tried to explain to my nine-year-old son why a rapper is in prison. He did not understand and started to cry. He thought it was very strange that one should sit in prison just because one sings. That is enough now, Tobias Billström!

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Alexandra Völker (S)

Madam Speaker! This is an incredibly important debate, and the Sweden Democrats' Markus Wiechel is using it to point the finger at us Social Democrats. Let me then emphasize that it was because of precisely the Sweden Democrats that the government before the chairmanship was not given the mandate to work towards blacklisting the IRGC. That is the reality; it is a fact.

Markus Wiechel sat himself in the EU Committee during that period and had the opportunity to influence. But one chose to stand behind the rather vague description of the toughest possible line, which meant that the government actually did not have the sharp requirement to work towards listing the Revolutionary Guard on the terror list. It is a pity, but it is a fact.

Now we are finally united, and that is what is important here and now, because the IRGC should be blacklisted. The Riksdag has been incredibly clear. It is a united Riksdag. Despite this very difficult issue, it may seem, it is a united Riksdag. There are also many who have made it here today to follow the debate because it is such an incredibly important issue. We expect the government to act to achieve a blacklisting.

I wonder therefore again whether one really looks at all the cases and examples that exist. It is difficult to understand how one can mean that there is not sufficient evidence to be able to terror-list IRGC with all the examples that exist. Is the government really acting fully to achieve a terror-listing of IRGC and gather the EU member states?

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Kadir Kasirga (S)

Madam Speaker! In my previous contribution, I mentioned that we must also take measures here and now to protect the Swedish citizens who live with the threat from the regime. We cannot accept that our citizens live in fear of expressing their opinions and fighting for their freedom. Therefore, I ask again what measures the government has taken to stop the revolutionary guard's and the regime's transnational oppression and persecution here in Sweden.

The regime in Iran is not only involved in the Middle East. According to Säpo, the regime conducts subversive activities, such as mapping of the Swedish-Iranian diaspora and also industrial espionage against Sweden. I mentioned in my previous post some murders that have been committed by the Revolutionary Guard on European soil, even here in Sweden. There is sufficient evidence and grounds to be able to list IRGC as a terrorist organization. I also want to remind Tobias Billström that the Swedish Riksdag has been unanimous about listing IRGC as a terrorist organization. With that position, the government must act.

Madam Speaker! I would like to conclude by sending my messages of solidarity to the families of Johan Floderus and Ahmadreza Djalali, who are being held as hostages in Iran. I hope for a happy ending so that they are reunited with their loved ones. I also want to send a message of solidarity to all women in Iran who dare to challenge the oppression and to the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Narges Mohammadi, who is in the notorious Evin Prison.

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Jacob Risberg (MP)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the answers.

It is a bit of a shame that the government ducks the question of the terror listing of the revolutionary guard and points to various legal technicalities. But it is something else I miss. I miss the humanitarian voice that Sweden has traditionally been – the voice that always stands up for human rights and for the lives of civilians, regardless of where in the world they are exposed to threats.

When civilians die in Gaza and the rest of the world demands a ceasefire, the government merely repeats the mantra about Israel's right to defense. When Turkey attacks Kurdish villages in Syria and Iraq with civilian deaths as a result, the government is silent for fear of clashing with an increasingly despotic Erdogan. And when the revolutionary guard strikes down protest marches, imprisons innocent people and executes individuals in terrifying numbers, there is silence from the government. Where is the humanitarian voice? Where is the voice that stands up for civilian lives regardless of where in the world they are exposed to threats? Where is the voice that stands strong against injustices, that dares to defy and that dares to criticize authoritarian regimes?

It is time now to be that voice, Tobias Billström.

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Markus Wiechel (SD)

Madam Speaker! I thought I would start by commenting on what Alexandra Völker said about our actions in the EU Committee. We were quite clear there, because it was actually we who ensured that the wording became the toughest possible measures against IRGC. That can be read in the minutes. Previously there was a vague formulation, but I do not think this is particularly vague, and it was therefore we who ensured that it became so.

Furthermore, I intended to address some of what the Foreign Minister mentioned in his original response but also in his second speech. It concerns court requirements and that it has not yet been presented that any individual would have been guilty of a terrorist offense or preparations for a terrorist offense. That this should be required is not correct, which Alireza has also pointed out. In fact, this claim, which originates from Josep Borrell, has been scrutinized. We can, among other things, read about it in Lawfare, which debunked the claim. There, they have looked at what the regulatory framework actually looks like.

The EU's legal basis for designating a terrorist group is Common Position 931, also called CP 931. In document CP 931, it is stated that a judicial authority or an equivalent competent authority can issue such a decision. Furthermore, even just the initiation of an investigation could be sufficient to support a terror listing. It could be carried out by the police or other investigative authorities, prosecutors, national designated authorities, or others, such as the Swedish Riksdag. Furthermore, it is specifically clarified in CP 931 that a proposed terrorist listing can be made on the basis of information from a third party, as Alireza said, not just information from the EU's member states. According to CP 931, groups of persons and entities can be added to the list on the basis of proposals submitted by the member states based on a decision by a competent authority in a member state or a third country, such as the USA or another country. Had one had a genuine commitment, one would have understood this wording.

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Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)

Madam Speaker! I think it is important to emphasize how actively Sweden, despite everything, has been on several points. Even within the UN, Sweden has worked to maintain the international pressure on Iran. Last year, Iran was excluded from the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which Sweden welcomes. Sweden was also one of the countries that stood behind the request to convene a special session on Iran in the UN Human Rights Council in November last year.

During the special session, an independent mechanism, a fact-finding mission, was established, which was an important step to promote accountability for the Iranian authorities' violence and abuses, regarding Jacob Risberg's question earlier. Their experts delivered an initial oral report to the MRrådet on July 5 this year. A few weeks ago, the experts visited several European countries, including Sweden, to exchange information and discuss the way forward. A written report from the mechanism, which we look forward to, is expected at the beginning of next year.

Some of the speakers have also touched upon the issue of Hamas. Iran has repeatedly expressed its support for Hamas and has praised the brutal violence during the terror attacks on October 7. At the same time, we note, as the USA has done, that there is no evidence of direct Iranian involvement in the attacks.

We have also discussed here the issue of the EU and the EU's role. The EU was a driving force in proposing sharper wording in the annual UN resolution on the situation regarding human rights in Iran, which was adopted in the UN's Third Committee just under three weeks ago. In addition, the EU has also condemned the executions that have taken place, most recently through a statement on 1 December.

By acting as coordinated and united as possible with other like-minded countries within the EU and the UN, we can ensure that our messages and also the measures taken gain broad traction and thus also become as effective as possible. That is the government's policy in this area.

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Alireza Akhondi (C)

Madam Speaker and Minister! I have done this a few times, but everything indicates that we will have to do it a few more times. As the Minister notices, two-thirds of the parties in the Riksdag are represented in this debate, and we have reached a unanimous decision in this chamber. The commitment is obviously great.

I want to remind the Minister that on June 9 next year, we go to elections at the European level. The Iranian diaspora is large in many countries, including Sweden, and that contempt—not respecting elected decisions—will certainly have consequences sooner or later.

I want to take the last seconds I have at my disposal to say that there will also be a tomorrow tomorrow. The sun will surely rise, and the tyrants in the world will surely persist tomorrow as well. But we actually have a choice—whether we will let these tyrants accompany us into the future. It requires political leadership but also the ability to act when there is actually an opportunity to do so. Let us seize that chance, Tobias Billström, and not play hide and seek and shake terrorists' hands with a big smile.

(Applause)

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Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)

Madam Speaker! Sweden harbors no illusions about Iran's regional role. Iran has a great influence in the region. Expressions of this include, among others, Hezbollah and Hamas, which have been supported for a long time. Iran thus has a great responsibility for the negative developments in the Middle East.

That is why it is the government's firm opinion that the international pressure on Iran must be maintained and that the measures to prevent continued Iranian support for terrorist organizations in the region must be strengthened. Such discussions are also ongoing within the EU.

In the current difficult situation in the region, it is also important with joint diplomatic efforts, including by regional actors and the UN, to avoid further escalation. The Government continues to follow the developments in Iran and in the region closely, and together with other EU and international partners, we continue to review all available tools and possible measures to influence Iran's actions. This includes that which is stated in the Riksdag's report.

I would like to thank everyone who has participated in the debate here today and who has demonstrated the broad support that exists in the Swedish Riksdag and in Swedish political life for the Iranian people's struggle for freedom.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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