“The European Union has recognized the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite branch of the armed forces that exists in Iran parallel to the army, as a terrorist organization.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: this was announced on Thursday by the Head of EU Diplomacy Kaya Callas, reports “Evropska Pravda”
Details: Callas stressed that repression cannot go unanswered, which is why EU foreign ministers have just taken the decisive step of recognizing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
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“Any regime that kills thousands of its citizens works for its own destruction,” Kallas wrote on the social network Kh.
Callas told reporters ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Thursday that the decision would put the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the same level as al-Qaeda, Hamas and the Islamic State.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the military branch of Iran’s executive branch, numbering tens of thousands of personnel. The designation of the Corps as a terrorist organization marks a major shift in the stance of European capitals, as it required countries such as France and Italy, which had previously opposed the move, to join it to ensure unanimous support.
The corps was created after the 1979 revolution because the new rulers distrusted the army created by the shah. The corps is a key component of Iran’s armed forces, reporting directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. This elite structure, which acts as the main guarantor of the stability of the regime, has its own extensive system of troops, including the special unit “Al-Quds” for conducting operations outside the country.
The US designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization in 2019 and has repeatedly called on the EU to follow suit.
On Thursday, the EU also approved a decision to introduce additional restrictive measures against Iran over its crackdown on protests and continued military support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
As you know, in recent weeks, protests broke out in Iran against the background of the catastrophic collapse of the national currency, to which the authorities responded with bloody crackdowns and repressions.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump announced the approach of a large American flotilla to the shores of Iran and called on Tehran to immediately sit down at the negotiating table to conclude an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.