Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters has reignited a long-running debate within the European Union over designating the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — widely seen as a key force behind the repression — as a terrorist organisation.
Placing the most powerful branch of Iran’s armed forces on the EU’s terrorist list would put the IRGC alongside groups such as Daesh, al-Qaeda, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
A terrorist group designation would subject its members to travel bans, asset freezes and “a prohibition on making funds or economic resources available to those listed”, according to rules established by the European Council.
According to diplomats in Brussels, countries like Germany and the Baltic states are among the countries pushing to revive discussions on the issue after the extreme violence exerted on protesters following two weeks of demonstrations.
At a meeting of ambassadors from the EU’s Political and Security Committee held this week in Brussels, a broad discussion took place, but no formal proposals were presented in writing, a step seen by some member states as required before making a formal decision.
A US-based Iranian human rights group said it fears more than 2,000 people may have been killed during the protests and public executions may follow.
Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister David van Weel was among the first government officials to publicly urge the EU on X to “list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.”
In France, centrist MP Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade issued a similar appeal, arguing that Europe “could not remain silent” while “hundreds of civilians have died and others have been injured by the regime’s brutal soldiers, particularly the Guardians of the Revolution.”
The United States, Canada and Australia have already designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. US President Donald Trump warned Tuesday Iran would see a “very strong response” if Tehran makes good on a threat to carry out public executions.
Italy, France and Spain are yet to make a decision, according to diplomats briefed on the matter. One diplomat told Euronews a “meaningful discussion on the matter” should be held first, although he did not indicate that his country would oppose it.
“Shooting people in the face”
Founded in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of the Islamic Republic, the IRGC is Iran’s elite military group encompassing ground forces, a navy, an air force and an intelligence apparatus, accountable only to the office of Iran’s supreme leader.
The group has been accused of leading a violent crackdown on protests inside Iran, supplying weapons to Russia, firing ballistic missiles at Israel, and sustaining close links with its armed allies including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
In a recent statement broadcast on state television, the IRGC accused “terrorists” of attacking military and law-enforcement facilities. US President Trump has warned that Iran faces “a very strong response” if it hangs protesters and referred to the Iranian leadership as “monsters” who have killed “too many people.”
Meanwhile, the head of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola called on the EU to follow through in an interview with Euronews, saying the hemicycle supports a terror designation and the rest of EU institutions should do the same.
Adding the IRGC to the EU’s terror list would be “a clear symbol” of support for Iranians, according to Hannah Neumann, a Green MEP who chairs the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with Iran.
“We are saying they are a terrorist organization, which they are, and we express solidarity with the protesters,” she added. “They have shot people in the face.”
A terror designation would also make it “a lot easier to implement what needs to be implemented” including blocking financial transactions, Neumann added.
In 2019, the Trump administration designated the IRGC — including its elite unit, the Quds Force — as a foreign terrorist organisation, Washington cited the group’s direct involvement in “terrorist plotting, its institutional support for terrorism and its role in the killing of US citizens.”
In 2023, the European Parliament condemned the IRGC’s role in the crackdown on protests triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. It called on member states to add the IRGC, the Quds Force and the paramilitary Basij militia to the EU’s terrorist list.
“Any country in which the IRGC deploys military, economic or informational operations should sever and outlaw ties with this agency,” MEPs said.
Lack of legal basis
Under EU rules, individuals, groups or entities can be added to the EU terror list only after a decision has already been taken by a competent authority in a member state or a third country. Final approval also requires unanimity, meaning a single member state can block the move.
Hopes of overcoming this hurdle rose in March 2024, when Germany’s Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court ruled that a 2022 attack on a synagogue in Bochum had been orchestrated by an Iranian state agency. The verdict raised expectations that the EU might finally have sufficient legal grounds to proceed, even if cautiously.
But political considerations have also played a crucial role. Some diplomats say France and Italy had been reluctant to fully sever ties with Tehran factoring the fate of their nationals detained in Iran.
Greece, a leading force in global shipping, is actively engaged in safeguarding commercial vessels in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks and has faced past tensions with Iran over tanker seizures.
Some EU officials also argue that many members of the IRGC are already subject to extensive EU sanctions linked to Iran’s nuclear programme, and adding a terrorist designation would risk further escalation without significantly changing the bloc’s leverage.