VZCZCXRO7430
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK
DE RUEHSM #0506 1971438
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 151438Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3602
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 000506 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2018 
TAGS: IR KDEM KPAO PREL SW
SUBJECT: IRAN SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES IN SWEDEN 
 
REF: A. STATE 33385 
     ¶B. 07 STOCKHOLM 00735 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Robert Silverman for reasons 1.4(b)and 
(d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Post has reached out to members of the 
Iranian community in Sweden over the past year.  Post has not 
yet identified recipients for the Iran Small Grants Program, 
however, we continue to vet different groups and intend to 
nominate several candidates in the Fall. Iranian Swedes are 
the best integrated and most successful Muslim immigrant 
group in Sweden, and probably among the best integrated in 
Europe.  Thus, we intend to finalize our choices and seek 
Department support soonest. End Summary. 
 
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BACKGROUND: IRANIAN COMMUNITY IN SWEDEN 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Swedish contacts converge on an estimate of at least 
70,000 Iranians in Sweden, the third largest Muslim immigrant 
group in the country, after immigrants from Iraq and the 
Balkans.  Unofficial estimates of the total number of Muslims 
in Sweden range from 350,000 to 450,000 (Note: The Swedish 
government does not provide official figures for 
religious/ethnic composition. End Note).  The Swedish 
Statistics Bureau estimates that Kurds make up the majority 
of Iranian immigrants in Sweden. 
 
¶3. (C) Embassy contacts in the Muslim community indicate that 
the Iranians are the best integrated Muslim group in Sweden. 
A number of Iranian Swedes are highly successful businessmen 
and the Swedish Parliament includes one Iranian-born member, 
Reza Khelili Dylami.  Post contacts also indicate, however, 
that many ethnic Iranian Swedes describe feeling isolated 
from Swedish society and that success varies significantly 
among the three different waves of Iranian immigrants.  The 
first wave was mainly political activists opposed to the Shah 
who arrived to Sweden in the 1970s.  Post contacts estimate 
they compose roughly five percent of the current Iranian 
community and that this group fills the ranks of the 
Mujahadeen e-Khalq (MEK).  The second group, wealthy elite 
Iranians, arrived from the late 1970s to the early 1980s and 
have enjoyed significant financial success in Sweden.  The 
third wave, middle class economic migrants, arrived in the 
late 1980s.  Members of this last group are less successful, 
tend to be employed in the service sector, and continue to 
drive a stream of migrants arriving to Sweden for family 
reunification. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
IRAN SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) INITIAL OUTREACH TO THE IRANIAN COMMUNITY IN SWEDEN: 
Over the past year, as part of the Embassy program of Muslim 
engagement, Emboffs began reaching out to members of the 
Iranian community in Sweden.  This included inviting Iranian 
participation in post-sponsored roundtables on Muslim 
integration in Sweden and meeting privately with prominent 
community members, including Masoud Kamali, Professor of 
Ethnic Relations at Sweden's prestigious Uppsala University 
and an advisor to Social Democratic Party leader Mona Sahlin; 
Leili Falsafi, an author and diversity consultant; and Idriss 
and Loghman Ahmedi, members of the youth wing of the 
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI). 
 
¶5. (C) FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES:  Many Iranian Swedes do not 
belong to organized Iranian political or social groups. 
Contacts assert that members of the Iranian community are 
wary of officially organizing on the basis of their ethnicity 
or religion because they believe it will hinder their 
integration into Swedish society (ref B).  Nevertheless, 
Post's initial outreach and research has identified some 70 
Iranian groups operating in Sweden.  Many of these 
organizations focus on social and cultural bonds, rather than 
political affiliation. 
 
¶6. (C) Post has started to identify organizations that could 
be potential recipients of the Iran Small Grants program.  We 
are requesting additional time to nominate candidates, 
however, in order to further develop contacts and fully vet 
these organizations.  Many of the groups that are politically 
active are aligned with MEK.  Post contacts also warn that 
many of the other organizations, social and political, have 
been infiltrated by Iranian government intelligence 
organizations. 
SILVERMAN