The EU is expected to add Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its list of terrorist organisations after France and Spain dropped their objections.
A senior EU diplomat said that the IRGC’s attacks on protesters were the very definition of a terrorist organisation.
Arriving this morning at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Helen McEntee said she supported taking action against the IRGC.
“I utterly condemn the actions of the Iranian government, the forces who have acted on their behalf. What is very clear is that innocent civilians, that peaceful protesters have been killed by Iranian forces and that they are now executing those who were involved in those protests. And I think Europe needs to respond strongly. Ireland needs to be part of that.”
But the move will be largely symbolic since the Revolutionary Guard is already sanctioned under EU’s list for committing human rights abuses.
Nonetheless, the EU believes declaring IRGC a terrorist organisation will be hugely important.
“It is a signal of support to those brave people in Iran who are standing up to a very murderous regime”, said one EU diplomat.
Ahead of the discussion amongst ministers this afternoon, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, said:
“We are putting new sanctions on the list [for Iran], and I also expect that we agree on listing the Iran Revolutionary Guard on the terrorist list.
This will put them on the same footing with al Qaeda, Hamas, Daesh. If you act as a terrorist, you should also be treated as a terrorist. It is clear what we see: the death toll in the protests that were in Iran and the means that were taken by the regime are really severe.
That is why we are also sending a clear message that if you are suppressing people, it has a price, and you will be also sanctioned for this.”
Some EU countries were worried that branding the Revolutionary Guard as terrorist could disrupt diplomatic relations with Iran and put European embassy staff at risk.
“These risks have been calculated”, said Kaja Kallas.
“The diplomatic part is out of this revolutionary guard listing. The interactions with the Foreign Minister are not under this. The estimate is that the diplomatic channels will remain open, even after the listing of the Revolutionary Guards.”