Most recently Argentina: Countries and blocs have designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization
The nets of “terrorist designations” are tightening around the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from all directions, from Australia to Europe and the Americas.
These steps reflect a growing international wave aimed at restricting Tehran’s influence, following a series of similar moves in Western capitals and increasing international awareness of the organization’s dangerous nature and the threat it poses to international interests.
In the latest move, the presidency in Argentina announced on Tuesday the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
According to a statement signed by President Javier Milei, “the national government has declared the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.”
The statement added: “The Argentine Republic was the victim of two of the most serious terrorist attacks in its history, carried out in the 1990s by the operational arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the region, namely the organization Hezbollah.”
Argentina is not the first country in the Americas to take this step.
In 2019, the United States designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization during the first term of Donald Trump.
The U.S. Department of State accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of direct involvement in terrorist plots.
Canada followed the United States’ example in 2024.
Ottawa stated that Iran “has demonstrated contempt for human rights and shown intent to destabilize the international order.”
Previously, Canada had already designated the Quds Force — the external arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — as a terrorist entity. Ottawa severed diplomatic relations with Tehran in 2012.
Europe
At the end of January, the Council of the European Union decided to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
At the time, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said that EU foreign ministers had approved listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, describing the decision as a decisive step in confronting the practices of the Iranian regime.
Two days later, Ukraine officially announced the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, a step Kyiv described as decisive and final.
This came against the backdrop of what Ukraine considers Iran’s direct role in supporting violence and destabilization, particularly through supplying drones to Russia used in the war against Ukraine.
On March 17, Albania designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a “terrorist organization” and Iran a “state sponsor of terrorism.”
In the preamble to its decision, Albania condemned cyberattacks targeting its institutions, particularly a 2022 attack that led Tirana to sever relations with Tehran.
Also in Europe, the parliament of Lithuania passed a resolution in October 2024 designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
Conservative MP Emanuelis Zingeris, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said at a press conference: “We were the first among EU parliaments to declare this (…). We recognize the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.”
Oceania
In Australia, Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced last August that her country had placed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, following an intelligence assessment concluding its involvement in attacks against Jews in Australia.
Australia accused Iran of orchestrating two antisemitic arson attacks in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne and gave Tehran’s ambassador seven days to leave the country, marking the first such expulsion since World War II.
What is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps?
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is one of the most powerful organizations in Iran, with influence extending beyond the military and intelligence spheres into politics, education, and the economy.
It was founded after the events of 1979 and operates separately from the traditional Iranian army, often in tension with it.
An elite force loyal to Iran’s Supreme Leader, its size has grown over the decades, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps includes more than 150,000 soldiers and maintains its own navy and air force, separate from Iran’s regular armed forces.
It also oversees the country’s ballistic missile program.
However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its navy, and its missile program have reportedly suffered extensive destruction during the ongoing war since February 28, as well as during Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last June, according to Western reports.
