Considering the previous efforts made by the Italian Government, which in 2003, thanks to current Foreign Minister Frattini, successfully promoted the inclusion of Hamas in the EU list of terrorist organizations, it seemed right to turn to the Government -- through a parliamentary question submitted with the colleagues listed below, both from majority and opposition parties -- to ask about the possibility of including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, whose activity is a major cause of instability in the Middle East, in the EU terror list.
The Revolutionary Guards, with which the famous Basiji militias are affiliated, are the main tool of internal repression used by the Iranian regime. The Guards support international terrorism and encourage the provision of weapons to Hamas, Hezbollah and to the anti-Western militias active in Iraq.
In Iran, the influence of the Revolutionary Guards is rooted in all aspects of the political, military, economic and social life of the country. Because of the Guards' control over a large part of the economic activities, especially in the military and nuclear development sectors, the U.S. designated the Revolutionary Guard Corps, under Executive Order 13382, as "entity of proliferation concern" in 2007.
At the same time, the Quds Forces, an IRGC special unit responsible for extraterritorial operations, have been included in the list of organizations that support terrorism (Executive Order 13224), with the aim of prohibiting any financial relationship with these groups or persons who can be traced back to them.
Europe has been recently moving in the same direction: the Dutch Parliament has already approved a resolution that commits the Government to take action at the European level to place the IRGC on the EU list of terrorist organizations.
The same request has been forwarded in a petition signed by many MPs from various parties of Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, France, Netherlands and UK.
The text of the question is as follows:
Parliamentary question in the Foreign Affairs Committee
To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
Whereas -
A petition signed by parliamentary representatives of Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, UK has been recently promoted. This petition urges to add the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the EU list of terrorist organizations. The appeal supports the view that the EU, as Iran's most important trading partner, finds itself in a unique position to affect change, and bring support to the Iranian domestic opposition. In this regard, a motion has been approved by the Dutch parliament in November 2009;
Since the beginning of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the IRGC has been used as a tool instrumental to the suppression of the Iranian society. The IRGC's influence is deeply rooted in every aspect of the Iranian society, from the political sphere to the military, economic and social life of the Country;
The IRGC, to which the Basiji militia is affiliated, has played a primary role in the bloody suppression of Iranian demonstrations that have been occurring since June 2009, after the Iranian presidential elections. Since the beginning of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's mandate - who actually started his career within the IRGC - the organization keeps growing as major component of the current Iranian regime;
The IRGC has the control over a great part of the Iranian economic activities, in particular with regard to the military and nuclear developments of the country;
This organization has a very active role in the support to international terrorism, especially with its direct backing to Hamas, Hezbollah, and to the anti-Western forces in Iraq;
For these reasons, and in particular because of IRGC's activity in the supply of weapons to Hezbollah and its involvement in the Iranian nuclear development program, on October 25, 2007 the American administration designated the Revolutionary Guard Corps under Executive Order 13382, as "entity of proliferation concern". Moreover, the Quds Force, a special unit of the IRGC responsible for extraterritorial operations, was added to the list of organizations that support terrorism, especially because of its sustain to the Iraqi Shiite militias, and terror activities in Lebanon and Afghanistan (Executive Order 13224, October 25, 2007, U.S. Department of Treasury); the result of these executive orders wants to be the financial isolation of such organizations;
In 2003, the Italian Government, with the special effort of the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, promoted the introduction of Hamas in the EU list of terror organizations;
To know:
which is the position of the Italian Government regarding a possible inclusion of the IRGC within the EU terror list;
if the Italian Government aims at promoting a discussion concerning the IRGC's activities and responsibilities, with the purpose of eventually introduce this latter into the EU list of terror organization.
(Act n. 5-02859)
FIAMMA NIRENSTEIN, GIORGIO LA MALFA, FURIO COLOMBO, PAOLO CORSINI, RENATO FARINA, GENNARO MALGIERI
