Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Tehran.image: Vahid Salemi/AP
According to a senator from the ruling Fratelli d’Italia party, not only US immigration officials but also members of the Pasdaran from Iran will take on security tasks in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
01/29/2026, 05:1701/29/2026, 05:17
Dominik Straub, Rome / ch media
On Tuesday, when the presence of ICE officers at the Winter Olympics was officially confirmed, an opposition MP commented ironically: In that case, Pasdaran representatives would also be welcome to protect the Iranian athletes.
What was meant as a bitter joke now seems to be becoming reality: According to Senator Alberto Balboni from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which played a key role in the recent massacres in Iran, will also take on personal protection tasks. “A search on the Internet was enough for me to find out,” emphasized Balboni, who also serves as President of the Constitutional Commission.
The largest opposition party, the social democratic Partito Democratico (PD), immediately sent a parliamentary interpellation to Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. “If what Balboni says is true, then this would be extremely serious,” it says.
The PD recalls that after the recent massacres in Iran, Tajani called for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be placed on the list of international terrorist organizations; Similar efforts are underway at EU level. It is therefore “incomprehensible and unacceptable” that the presence of such a force on Italian territory is even being considered, especially during a major international event such as the Winter Olympics, writes the PD.
“It’s not as if the SS were coming here.”
The presence of representatives of the US immigration authority ICE had already made waves in Italy the day before. Beppe Sala, mayor of Milan, one of the host cities of the games, explained that ICE officials were not welcome in the city “because they cannot guarantee that they comply with our democratic methods of security management.”
It is “a militia that kills,” explained Sala, before adding to Prime Minister Meloni:
“Can’t we even say no to Trump? We can ensure security ourselves. We don’t need ICE.”
The government has now tried to downplay the presence of the discredited Trump troops at the Olympics: They are said to be ICE agents who, within the Ministry of Security, specialize in hosting major events abroad. These have been around for decades and have nothing to do with the officials who are currently searching the streets in the USA for illegal migrants.
“It’s not as if the SS were coming here,” explained Foreign Minister Tajani on Monday at a Holocaust memorial event. “Let’s make one thing clear: you don’t come to maintain public order in the middle of the street like in the USA. They come to work in the operations centers.”
By the time this issue went to press, the government had not yet commented on the possible presence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at the Winter Games. In principle, security at the Olympic Games is the responsibility of the host country authorities; According to the International Olympic Committee, these in turn work closely with the security apparatus of the participating nations. Italy determines which security services are allowed to be present at the Winter Games and with which tasks. The opening ceremony will take place on February 6th at the San Siro Stadium in Milan. (aargauerzeitung.ch)