by Stefano Piazza
According to some sources within the European Union there is a legal basis for declaring the Iranian Pasdaran a “terrorist organization.” It all starts with the sentence handed down on December 19, 2023, by the Sixth Criminal Senate of the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf, under the direction of Higher Regional Court President Jan van Lessen, which sentenced a 36-year-old German-Iranian to a total prison term of two years and nine months “for planning in November 2022 a serious arson and subsequently attempting to commit arson.” During the trial it emerged that at the last moment out of fear of being discovered, the man had “merely” thrown the incendiary device at the Hildegardis school, which is located right next to the Bochum synagogue. The investigation proved that the arson attack had been organized by an Iranian state agency linked to the Pasdaran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Now the Düsseldorf court’s decision “ represents a legal basis for the European Union to list the Pasdaran as a terrorist organization. It needs the political green light, though, and for that it needs unanimity,” writes AGI. In addition, a diplomatic source said, “The Dusseldolf ruling gave the legal way but it is now a political issue. We have made progress with the legal basis but the political circumstances remain the same, with several states not convinced that this is a good idea. So until everyone is convinced, there will be no declaration.” This is a crucial vote for the future of the Union because here we will see who will side with the criminals in Tehran and who will side with the Christian-Jewish West. What, for example, will the Spanish Socialists, the Irish Socialists, and the Italian Democratic Party members do? And how will they vote for the Five Star Movement, which since its founding has had pro-Iran members and some members of the Italian center-right among its ranks? We will soon know.
Iran has agents of influence in Europe charged with spreading propaganda and spies who closely monitor its opponents. They often collaborate with the Al-Quds Force, an elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that specializes in foreign operations. These infiltrators act incognito, posing a serious threat to the security of our democracies. There is no doubt that they are behind the anti-Israel demonstrations in our universities and are exploiting large-scale events in order to insert new agents into our democratic societies. Iranian agents also collaborate with local criminal groups to commit attacks on European soil, and in the intelligence community, the links between organized crime and Iranian intelligence services are not surprising. In recent years, cases have increased in Europe, including Germany, Greece, Spain and Sweden. In Sweden, intelligence recently confirmed that the Iranian regime uses criminal networks for acts of violence against Israeli interests.
A French DGSI report notes that after being placed on the EU list of terrorist organizations, Iranian services adapted their modus operandi by recruiting individuals with criminal backgrounds. On May 30, Mossad issued a statement accusing Iran of using organized criminal gangs to attack Israeli and Jewish targets in Sweden. At a conference, the Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) confirmed these allegations, saying that several planned attacks linked to Iranian security services were foiled, using criminal networks as intermediaries. Mossad claims Iran was involved in at least two attacks against the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in 2024.
On Jan. 31, an individual threw a hand grenade over the fence of the Israeli embassy. Although the incident caused no damage or injuries, the SÄPO took control of the investigation, treating the case as a terrorist crime. The second attack occurred on May 17, when gunshots were fired near the embassy. Although Mossad has linked Iran to the shooting, Swedish authorities have not made any arrests and are conducting a serious weapons crime investigation, ruling out the terrorist track at the moment.The SÄPO is also investigating two other incidents on May 16 related to aggravated weapons offenses for possible links to threats against the Israeli embassy. In both cases, police arrested juvenile suspects, who were later released. In previous statements, the SÄPO identified Iran as a major threat to Sweden, along with Russia and China.
Still on the subject of the Islamic Republic according to the Wall Street Journal, which spoke to some Arab officials, it has been issuing secret diplomatic warnings for days, threatening to strike oil-rich Gulf Arab states and other U.S. allies in the Middle East if their territories or airspace are used for attacks against Iran. But the biggest Iranian mystery of the last week is that concerning the fate of General Esmail Qaani head of the Quds Force the powerful unit of the Iranian Pasdaran, responsible among many things for overseas operations in countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq and who inherited the role from the legendary General Qassem Soleimani himself . Where is Esmail Qaani a very popular character in Iran always at the side of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei? Is he alive? And where is he, in Lebanon or Iran? Or is he dead after the heart attack that allegedly struck him a few days ago lasting an interrogation? Or is it true that he was arrested on suspicion of being a Mossad mole?
The only thing that is certain is that Qaani has not been seen in public since the day the Israelis eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with an 82-ton bombing raid on Dahieh in Beirut on Sept. 27. In the preceding days, a series of pager and walkie-talkie explosions throughout Lebanon had clearly revealed the level of Israeli infiltration into the Hezbollah structure, all the way to the top. Qaani was not there during the Friday prayer and ceremony in remembrance of Nasrallah celebrated by Khamenei in Tehran, and the entire elite of the Iranian armed forces were there that day. According to the Qatari-funded Middle East Eye newspaper , “ Qaani is alive but has been interrogated as part of the major crackdown wanted by Khamenei to ferret out spies and traitors”. In the crosshairs would be the head of his office, who would be “the point of contact with the enemy,” the broadcaster says. The Tasnim news agency, linked to the Pasdaran, has denied the news, derubricating it as ridiculous, and indeed government media say that “Qaani will be awarded by Khamenei soon.” The reason for the award and when it will happen though is a mystery.