May 12 – Sweden’s parliament voted in favor of listing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization this week. The vote followed ongoing allegations by EU states and human rights bodies that the military unit was engaged in activities around the world which amounted to terrorism.
Activities of concern included mass executions of prisoners, violent crackdowns on peaceful anti-government protesters and sustained violence against women and children.
The EU and the UK have so far resisted calls by lawmakers and campaigners to designate the organization, while the US blacklisted the military wing in 2019.
The Iranian journalist and human rights campaigner Masih Alinejad said she had been given round-the-clock police protection while visiting the UK, after the force received credible threats to her life.
Alinejad was in the UK to talk about the state of human rights in Iran, and to call on the British government to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
She had previously been the target of an alleged kidnapping plot and an assassination attempt while residing in her home state, New York.
And Iran’s government held an international conference heralding what Iranian officials called a new world order.
The two-day conference was attended by academics and professionals from 36 countries, including China, Russia, Syria and Iraq.
During the conference, Iran Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf urged Iran to strengthen its ties with other Islamic countries, “especially in the field of trade and economy,” while criticizing Israel and the US.
