Iran’s Revolutionary Guards added to EU terror list

The European Union has placed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on its terrorist list in response to Tehran’s lethal crackdown on demonstrators in recent weeks.

The designation reflects mounting European alarm over the scale of the violence used to suppress nationwide demonstrations, according to the BBC on January 29th.

Speaking in Brussels, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot condemned what he called “the most violent repression in Iran’s modern history” and said there could be “no impunity for the crimes committed.”

“Repression cannot go unanswered,” the EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said, noting that the designation places the IRGC, a significant military, economic and political force in Iran, on the same level as jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Kallas added: “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise.” She said she still expected diplomatic channels with Iran to continue, even after the IRGC’s inclusion on the EU’s terrorism list.

France had previously been viewed as reluctant to add Iran’s IRGC to the EU’s terror list, amid concerns the move could sever remaining diplomatic channels with Iran. But it shifted its position, throwing its full support behind the Italy‑led push to blacklist the group. The EU also imposed new sanctions on six entities and 15 individuals in Iran, including Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi Azad and Iman Afshari, a presiding judge.

“They were all involved in the violent repression of peaceful protests and the arbitrary arrest of political activists and human rights defenders,” the bloc stated.

Groups placed on the EU’s terrorist list face measures such as travel bans and asset freezes aimed at dismantling their support networks. Human rights organisations estimate that thousands of demonstrators were killed by security forces, such as the IRGC, during weeks of unrest between December and January.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, dismissed the EU’s move as a “stunt” and a “major strategic mistake.” Iran’s IRGC, the most powerful armed force in the country, was established shortly after the 1979 revolution to safeguard the country’s Islamic system. It is believed to have roughly 190,000 active personnel, with operational capabilities across land, air and sea. It oversees Iran’s strategic weapons programmes.

The organisation also projects influence abroad by supplying money, weapons, technology and advisory support to allied governments and armed groups. Inside Iran, it controls the Basij Resistance Force, a vast paramilitary network with hundreds of thousands of members that has been repeatedly deployed to suppress dissent.

The EU’s announcement came shortly after US President Donald Trump said that a “massive Armada” was moving rapidly towards Iran “with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose.”

The US president said he hoped to avert military action by pursuing further talks on a potential nuclear agreement. “I built [up] the military in my first term, and now we have a group headed out to a place called Iran, and hopefully we won’t have to use it,” Trump told reporters.
When asked whether he intended to hold discussions with Iran, Trump said: “I have had and I am planning on it. Yes, we have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn’t have to use them.”

Iran’s foreign minister said the country’s armed forces were prepared “with their fingers on the trigger” to “immediately and powerfully respond” to any act of aggression. Araghchi argued that instead of working to prevent “all-out war in our region,” Europe was “busy fanning the flames.”

Iranian authorities have claimed that more than 3,100 people were killed, asserting that most of the victims were security personnel or bystanders targeted by “rioters.”

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it had confirmed the deaths of more than 6,301 people, including 5,925 protesters, while another organisation, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights, warned the final toll could exceed 25,000.

An internet blackout imposed by the authorities has further obscured the scale of the government’s violence against protesters, making independent assessment extremely difficult. Although many international news outlets, including the BBC, are unable to report from inside Iran, the BBC has verified videos showing security forces firing live ammunition at crowds.

BBC, Maghrebi.org