EU set to add Iran’s Guards to terror list after France U-turn

By John Irish and Michel Rose

PARIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) – The European Union is poised to include Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on its list of terrorist organisations after France said on Wednesday it would now support the move.

EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday and were due to sign off on new sanctions in response to a crackdown on protests that has seen thousands killed and thousands more arrested.

“France will support the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the European Union’s list of terrorist organisations,” France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X.

With France, Italy and Germany now on board, the decision is likely to be approved politically on Thursday, although it does need unanimity among the bloc’s 27 members.

Earlier on Wednesday, France had been hesitant to back the majority in the bloc, who have pushed to add the IRGC to the EU’s terrorist organisation list, joining the United States.

“The unbearable repression of the peaceful uprising of the Iranian people cannot go unanswered. The extraordinary courage they have shown in the face of the blind violence unleashed upon them cannot be in vain,” Barrot said.

The French presidency had earlier announced the decision. 

Set up after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has great sway in the country, controlling swathes of the economy and armed forces, and was put in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.

CUTTING TIES, FEARS FOR CITIZENS IN IRAN

While some EU member states have previously pushed for the IRGC to be added to the EU’s terrorist list, others, led by France, have been more cautious. 

They feared such a move could lead to a complete break in ties with Iran, impacting diplomatic missions, and also hurting negotiations to release European citizens held in Iranian prisons. 

Paris has been especially worried about the fate of two of its citizens currently living at the embassy in Tehran after being released from prison last year.

Anti-government protests that swept across Iran since December have triggered the bloodiest crackdown by authorities since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, drawing international condemnation.

Other diplomats backing the move said the magnitude of the crackdown meant Europe had to send a very strong political signal given the IRGC’s role in the clampdown, but also its activities overseas, which they said was tantamount to terrorist activity. 

“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it’s probably a duck and it’s good to call that out,” said one senior EU diplomat.

(Editing by Toby Chopra and Bill Berkrot)