EU designates Iran's IRGC as 'terrorist organisation'
The IRGC and its senior leadership are already under EU sanctions, meaning that adding them to the terror blacklist is expected to have little practical impact.
EU member states have reached a political agreement to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organisation”, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said Thursday.
“Repression cannot go unanswered. EU Foreign Ministers just took the decisive step of designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation,” Kaja Kallas wrote on X on Thursday.
Kallas’s remarks came as foreign ministers from EU member states were holding talks in Brussels.
Iran's armed forces reacted to the EU designation and termed it “irresponsible and spite-driven”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also welcomed the political agreement, calling it “long overdue”.
Though largely symbolic, the EU move has already drawn a warning from Tehran that it would have "destructive consequences".
The 27-nation bloc, meanwhile, also adopted visa bans and asset freezes on 21 state entities and Iranian officials, including the interior minister, prosecutor general and regional IRGC commanders.
Protests and Trump
Iran has been rocked by waves of protests since December 28 at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar because of the sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial and worsening economic conditions. Demonstrations later spread to several cities.
Iranian authorities acknowledge that thousands were killed during the protests, giving a toll of over 3,000 people, but say the majority were members of the security forces or bystanders killed by "rioters".
At least 6,126 people have been killed in protests across Iran, a US-based rights group said earlier this week.
Tehran has accused the US and Israel of backing "armed rioters" to create a pretext for foreign intervention and warned that any US attack would draw a "swift and comprehensive" response.
US President Donald Trump has urged Iran to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear weapons or face a possible US attack.
The IRGC as a whole and senior commanders are already under EU sanctions, meaning that adding them to the terror blacklist is expected to have little practical impact on the organisation.