With major powers backing the move, Europe edges closer to designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization
The European Union is moving closer to adding Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to its list of terrorist organizations, in response to what it describes as a “crackdown” on protesters inside the country.
According to Politico, the Revolutionary Guard could be added to the list if it secures sufficient support at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday, where ministers are expected to discuss imposing additional sanctions on the Iranian regime.
Previously, several countries, including France and Italy, had opposed placing the Revolutionary Guard on the EU’s terrorism list, arguing that such a move would shut down the limited diplomatic channels that still exist with Tehran.
However, France, which had been among the strongest opponents of the designation, dropped its objection on Wednesday evening, according to information provided by the Élysée Palace to Politico.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot had earlier stated that it was “necessary to combat the impunity of those responsible for this bloody repression” in Iran.
Italy has also shifted its position in recent weeks, citing the “brutality of the Iranian crackdown”.
Moreover, Madrid has now come out in support of the move as well, according to a statement from Spain’s Foreign Ministry.
Designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization requires unanimous approval from all 27 EU member states.
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said that the latest leaked footage from Tehran showing the repression had crossed a “major red line” for EU countries, adding: “That is why we hope to see some movement” on designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization at Thursday’s meeting.
He added: “At the very least, the issue will be on the table”.
“A strong signal”
According to Alex Vatanka, an Iran expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington, the Revolutionary Guard is “a state within a state”.
Vatanka noted that the Guard is “embedded at the highest levels of the regime and involved in many of the issues that matter to the West, such as the nuclear program, missiles, and Iran’s regional activities”.
Van Weel returned to the point, saying: “We need to send a strong signal”.
He added that the Revolutionary Guard is “the unifying factor and the backbone that holds this regime together, directs most of the violence, and controls much of the economic activity, while the rest of the country suffers from poverty. I therefore believe it is a key driver of the atrocities we have seen not only in Iran but also across the region”.
Separately, EU ministers are expected to approve at their Thursday meeting asset freezes and visa bans on 21 Iranian individuals and entities over human rights violations, as well as on 10 others for supplying weapons to Russia in the war in Ukraine.
The United States designated the Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019 and has repeatedly urged the European Union to follow suit.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump warned that “time is running out” for the Iranian regime and that a “massive fleet” was moving toward the country “quickly, with great force, enthusiasm, and determination”.
