Open letter on the call for terror listing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
On the 26th anniversary of the verdict on the “Mykonos assassination” of Kurdish opposition members ordered by the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Dear Members of the European Council,
Dear High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Mr Josep Borrell,
On the occasion of the anniversary of the judgement on the “Mykonos assassination” by the Berlin Court of Appeal (KG, 10.04.1997 – 2 StE 2/93 (19/93)), we would like to ask you to strongly commit yourself to the listing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the EU terror list (Common Position 2001/931/CFSP) and to effect its entry.
On 17 September 1992, three Kurdish leaders of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan were assassinated in Berlin on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to the findings of the Court, the then leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the participation of the current Head of State Seyyed Ali Khamenei, is responsible for the murder. This was the result of the court’s comprehensive taking of evidence – including statements by experts, insider witnesses and reports by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
The violent, systematic persecution and murder of Iranian opposition members in exile is indisputably proven. The assassination of our party leader Dr. Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou in Vienna in 1989, which had clear parallels to the assassination in Berlin and is part of the state-mandated persecution of the Kurdish opposition, should be recalled in this context.
The IRGC is part of the state terror apparatus to spread fundamentalist ideology abroad. The IRGC is responsible for building up Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is classified as a terrorist organisation according to the EU terrorist list, and supports it militarily and financially. Hezbollah’s links to the Islamic Republic are obvious. According to the court’s evidence, the convicted murderers of the Mykonos attack underwent training at the IRGC camp in Rasht, Iran. There is thus a direct link between the assassinations, the IRGC and the terrorist organisation Hezbollah.
The listing of the IRGC is imperative in order to stop the Islamic Republic of Iran’s state-sponsored terrorist activities within the European Union and to weaken the regime’s leadership. Moreover, in view of the listing of Hezbollah, it is only logical, as the latter is closely linked to and dependent on the IRGC.
On behalf of the victims of the assassination, Dr. Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fattah Abdoli, Homayoun Ardalan and Nouri Dehkordi, we ask you to condemn the murders, recognise the link to the Islamic Republic of Iran and effect the listing of the IRGC.
As a systematically persecuted party, with a commitment to the fundamental democratic values of the European Union and the human rights declarations of the United Nations, we are counting on you.
Yours sincerely
The representatives of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
