European Union foreign ministers agreed to add Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the bloc’s list of terrorist organizations, a move that aligns the powerful force with groups such as the Islamic State organization and al-Qaida and signals a sharp shift in Europe’s approach to Tehran.
“Repression cannot go unanswered,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on social media, adding that “any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise.” The IRGC, created after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to safeguard the clerical system, wields broad influence across Iran’s economy and security apparatus.
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The designation follows a nationwide protest crackdown earlier this month that left thousands dead, accelerating a push that some EU capitals had long urged and others had resisted over fears of severing channels with Tehran or endangering European citizens in Iran. “It’s important that we send this signal that the bloodshed that we’ve seen, the bestiality of the violence that’s been used against protesters, cannot be tolerated,” Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said. France and Italy, initially reluctant, backed the move this week.
Despite concerns the listing could freeze diplomacy, Kallas said the “estimate is that still the diplomatic channels will remain open, even after the listing of the Revolutionary Guards.” Iran had earlier warned of “destructive consequences” if the EU proceeded.
Alongside the terror designation, the EU adopted sanctions on 15 individuals and six entities for “serious human rights violations in Iran,” the Council of the European Union said. Those targeted include Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi Azad, several IRGC commanders and senior law enforcement officials.
Entities sanctioned include the Iranian Audio-Visual Media Regulatory Authority and several software firms the EU said were involved in censorship, trolling campaigns, disinformation and the development of surveillance and repression tools that disrupted internet access across Iran.
The EU also sanctioned four individuals and six entities linked to Iran’s drone and missile programs and expanded prohibitions on exporting components and technologies used in the development and production of unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles from the EU to Iran.
The decision lands amid rising U.S.-Iran tensions. Iran’s military vowed a “crushing response” to any attack after President Donald Trump warned that time was running out for a nuclear deal. A U.S. naval strike group arrived in Middle East waters, with Trump saying it was “ready, willing and able” to hit Iran “if necessary.” He added that “time is running out” for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, which Western governments say is aimed at producing a weapon.
Washington and Tehran have traded sharp warnings since the protest wave in Iran, with the U.S. threatening military action over the crackdown and Iran accusing the U.S. of stoking “riots.” The U.S. had hit Iranian nuclear targets when it briefly joined Israel’s war against Iran in June.
Regional actors urged restraint. A Gulf official told AFP that fears of a U.S. strike on Iran are “very clear,” warning that any conflict would roil the global economy and send oil and gas prices soaring. Turkey said it would offer to mediate between Washington and Tehran during an upcoming visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. “It’s wrong to attack Iran. It’s wrong to start the war again. Iran is ready to negotiate on the nuclear file again,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Al-Jazeera. Ankara, a NATO member with a 530-kilometer border with Iran, is weighing contingency plans should the crisis escalate, a senior official said.
By placing the IRGC on its terror list and tightening sanctions, the EU is seeking to raise costs for Tehran over the protest crackdown and internal repression while maintaining at least some diplomatic avenues. Whether those channels endure amid intensifying U.S.-Iran brinkmanship now becomes a central test for Europe’s Iran policy.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
