Ardavan Khoshnood during his talk on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Stockholm on 28 March 2023.
On 28 March 2023, I helped organise the conference Focus: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Stockholm, as part of the Iran in Focus initiative. The conference brought together researchers, politicians and journalists to discuss the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its role within the Islamic Republic, its international activities and the proposal to place the organisation on the European Union's terrorist list.
As one of the conference's keynote speakers, I gave a talk about the IRGC's position within the Islamic Republic, its organisational structure, non-military activities and international terrorist operations. I discussed, among other examples, the Mykonos assassinations in Berlin and the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, as well as the Islamic Republic's activities in Sweden and other EU countries.
My brother Arvin Khoshnood, who also helped organise the conference and spoke at the event, discussed how economic hardship in Iran is exploited to recruit people into the regime's security organisations, including the Basij.
The conference also featured a panel discussion with Member of the European Parliament Charlie Weimers, terrorism researcher Magnus Norell and journalist Negar Josephi, moderated by Mina Billing.
Watch my full talk
My talk on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ structure, activities and international terrorist operations at the conference in Stockholm on 28 March 2023. The talk is in Swedish.