7. maj 2025
To the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Danish Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemens,
I am writing to you today not just as a concerned citizen in exile, but as a direct victim of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), whose violence and repression continue to claim lives and silence voices
both inside Iran and far beyond its borders.
The IRGC has persecuted my family relentlessly. My brother, [Saman Pashai], a peaceful human rights
advocate, was arrested and tortured in Iran. My sister, [Laila Pashai], endured similar abuse in prison. Their
only “crime” was their courage to speak out. These injustices are documented in international media,
including National Review (A
Family and a Nation, A Critical Case in Iran),
where the world has witnessed
how the IRGC operates not only as a tool of internal repression, but also as an extraterritorial threat to
activists, dissidents, and exiled communities.
I have personally faced threats in Europe — a reminder that the IRGC’s arm reaches into the lives of those
who dare to expose its brutality, even from afar. That is why this legislative proposal in the Danish
Parliament is not just symbolic — it is essential. Denmark can lead Europe in acknowledging the IRGC for
what it truly is: a terrorist organization.
This designation would send a powerful message to authoritarian regimes and their proxies: Europe will not
tolerate transnational repression, state-sponsored terror, or the export of violence onto its soil. It would
limit the IRGC’s ability to fund, coordinate, and legitimize its operations internationally — and it would offer
protection and solidarity to families like mine, who continue to suffer in its wake.
I urge this committee to support this critical proposal and take this historic opportunity to stand with the
victims — and to stand on the right side of history.
Best Regrds
Salar Pashai