At a meeting of the Council of the European Union on 29 January, the foreign ministers of the European Union countries unanimously decided to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the European Union’s list of terrorist organisations.
This was announced by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas: “EU foreign ministers have just taken a decisive step by designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. Repression cannot go unanswered. Any regime that kills thousands of its own citizens is working towards its own demise.”
The IRGC is Iran’s elite military-political structure, created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It reports directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, controls a significant part of the country’s missile programme, nuclear activities and economic assets, and plays a key role in suppressing internal protests and supporting proxy groups in the Middle East.
The EU decision places the IRGC on a par with organisations such as Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah. Being added to the list entails the freezing of assets, a travel bans for members of the organisation within the EU, and criminal liability for providing any support to the IRGC.
For a long time, several countries (France, Italy, Spain and Greece) blocked this decision, fearing complications in diplomatic channels with Tehran, including on the nuclear deal. The turning point came after the latest wave of mass protests in Iran and their harsh suppression by the IRGC, as well as pressure from Germany, Eastern European countries and the European Parliament.
The IRGC had already been designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and several other countries.
The formal legal inclusion in the EU sanctions list is expected to be completed in the coming days or weeks.