Iran

Sweden wants the European Union to classify Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization after several attacks on Israeli targets in Sweden that Stockholm blames on Iran, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sunday.

The Scandinavian country's intelligence agency, Sapo, has accused Iran of recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs to commit "acts of violence" against Israeli and other interests in Sweden, a charge Tehran has denied.

"We want Sweden to seriously address, together with other EU countries, the incredibly problematic connection between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its destructive role in the (Middle East) region, but also its increasing actions in various European countries, including Sweden," Kristersson told the Expressen daily.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a special branch of the Iranian armed forces whose officers hold key positions within the Iranian government.

"The only reasonable option... is that we obtain a common classification of terrorists, so that we can act more broadly than with the sanctions that already exist," he added.

Several Israeli interests have been targeted in Sweden in recent months.

In early October, the Israeli Embassy was targeted by gunfire, which did not cause any injuries. Other incidents have occurred near the embassy since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.

In February, a grenade was found near the building in what the Israeli ambassador called an attempted attack.

In May, gunfire was reported outside the building, leading to increased security measures around Israeli interests in Sweden.

Two attacks have also targeted an Israeli military technology company in the past six months.

In May, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter cited documents from the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad indicating that the head of the Swedish crime network Foxtrot, Rawa Majid, and his arch-rival Ismail Abdo, head of the Rumba gang, were both recruited by Iran.

In early October, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported that the two recent attacks on the Israeli Embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen had been ordered by Foxtrot on the orders of Iran.

Iran condemned Sunday what it called an "illegal and unjustified" expansion of U.S. sanctions targeting its oil industry following Tehran's missile attack on Israel earlier this month.

In a statement, foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei defended Iran's attack on Israel and "strongly condemned" the sanctions, saying they were "illegal and unjustified."

The United States on Friday slapped Iran with a spate of new sanctions on the country's oil and petrochemical industry in response to Tehran's October 1 attack against Israel.

Baghaei defended Iran's attack on Israel as being legal and insisted on Iran's right to respond to the new sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it targeted Iran's so-called shadow fleet of ships involved in selling Iranian oil in circumvention of existing sanctions.

It said it had designated at least 10 companies and 17 vessels as "blocked property" over their involvement in shipments of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products.

The State Department also announced it was placing sanctions on six further firms and six ships for "knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran".

Baghaei said "the policy of threats and maximum pressure" had no impact on "Iran's will to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interests and citizens against any violation and foreign aggressions."

He said the sanctions would enable Israel "to continue killing innocents and pose a threat to the peace and unity of the region and the world".

The new wave of sanctions comes as the world awaits Israel's promised response to Tehran's missile attack, with oil prices hitting their highest levels since August.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden advised Israel against targeting oil infrastructure in Iran, one of the world's 10 largest producers.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi last Tuesday warned that "any attack against infrastructure in Iran will provoke an even stronger response."