In a letter written to Josep Borrell, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, more than 130 members of the House wrote, that given the growing threat Iran poses to EU member states and citizens, Borrell should treat this issue with the “utmost urgency”.
They wrote that there is an abundance of evidence which is available to the US that provides a basis for a terror designation.
Then on 13 April, Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney introduced a bipartisan resolution urging the EU to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.
“Combatting the IRGC is one of the most urgent national security agenda items today,” Tenney wrote, adding, “Congress is united in opposing the IRGC’s terror campaign… This designation will increase pressure and send a clear message to the Islamic Republic that its terror campaigns must stop.”
On 18 January, the European Parliament voted 598 to 9 in favour of a measure calling for the EU to designate the IRGC as part of an annual foreign and security policy report.
Following the vote, the EU Foreign Affairs Council elected not to execute the designation.
“Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror. For decades, the IRGC has freely and openly carried out plots targeting citizens in countries across the EU,” the bipartisan letter stated.
The lawmakers claimed that “the IRGC has supported and participated in numerous human rights abuses, including the crackdown of Iranian protesters following the murder of Mahsa Amini”.
“We strongly urge you, and your foreign affairs ministerial colleagues, to make the decision to fully sanction, penalize and delegitimize the IRGC, to help prevent them from further threatening democracy & freedom in the United States, Europe, and around the world,” the letter stated.
In 2019, the US designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), a year after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and imposed a “maximum pressure” strategy on Tehran that included reimposing sanctions.
Iranian officials have warned the Europeans against blacklisting the elite military force, stressing they will have to take responsibility for the consequences if they make such a mistake.
