Iran on Thursday warned the European Union to designate the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization, after the European Parliament overwhelmingly condemned the crackdown on demonstrators in Iran and the supply of drones to Russia on Wednesday, urging EU countries to view the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned that if the Islamic Revolutionary Guards were included in the list of terrorist organizations, official Iranian media reported Thursday.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament called on the European Union to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in the list of terrorist organizations, accusing them of suppressing demonstrators in the country and supplying drones to Russia.
Relations between European Union member states and Tehran have deteriorated in recent months, and efforts to restart talks on nuclear issues have stalled.
There are a number of European citizens in Tehran and the bloc is becoming increasingly critical of the ongoing crackdown on protesters, including executions.
Massive anti-government demonstrations erupted in Iran in September following the death of an Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the vice police on charges of violating strict dress codes for women.
In a text supported by an overwhelming majority of MPs, the European Parliament condemned “the brutal suppression by Iran, including by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, of demonstrations after the death of Mahsa Amini, after her forcible arrest, humiliation and ill-treatment by the Iranian vice police.” .”
The text calls on the European Union and member states to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization “given its terrorist activities, the suppression of protesters and the supply of drones to Russia.”
The European Parliament has no power to force the European Union to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on its list of terrorist organizations, but the text contained in the amendment to the resolution proposed by conservative Polish MP Anna Wotyga is a clear political message to Tehran. , while 598 deputies voted in favor of the amendment, nine against and 31 abstentions.
Brussels is discussing a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran and diplomatic sources have said members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will be added to the EU sanctions list next week.
But some member states have urged the bloc to go further by declaring the IRGC as a whole a terrorist organization, a decision the UK is expected to make in the coming weeks.
