Ayatollah Khamenei sent a message to a gathering of the IRGC commanders and military officials, which was read out by IRGC Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami as the session opened on Thursday.
“The convening of the meeting, which is aimed at outlining the horizons of the IRGC and the Basij Force’s movement toward a bright future for the Islamic Revolution, is a source of joy and will, God willing, bring blessings,” the message read.
The IRGC, the Leader said, “is expected to attract, train and educate the talented youth at a level that befits the Islamic Revolution, enable the IRGC to achieve all capabilities [required] to fortify the Revolution, and bolster its own spiritual, revolutionary and military power.”
The call comes weeks after a contentious decision by the European Parliament for the European Union to blacklist the IRGC, an official division of Iran’s Armed Forces.
The European Union, however, has not acted on the decision, which is widely viewed as a symbolic move, arguing that the bloc lacks the necessary legal basis for such designation.