The European Union has designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a “terrorist organisation” over a deadly crackdown on antigovernment protests in the country.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday that the bloc’s foreign ministers took a “decisive step” in labelling the IRGC as a “terrorist” group.
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“Repression cannot go unanswered,” Kallas wrote on social media. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the decision, saying the move was “illegal, political and contrary to international law” as well as a violation of the country’s internal affairs.
It also said Tehran “reserves the right to take appropriate measures within the framework of international law to defend its sovereignty, national security, and the interests of the Iranian nation, and holds the European Union and its member states responsible for the consequences of this action”.
Established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the IRGC is an elite branch of the country’s military that answers directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and oversees the Iranian missile and nuclear programmes.
Separately on Thursday, the European Council also announced new sanctions against 15 individuals and six entities it said were “responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran” following the protest crackdown.
The targeted individuals include Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, the council said in a statement.
Iran has faced a wave of international condemnation for using force to quell a mass protest movement, which began late last month amid public anger over soaring inflation and socioeconomic issues.
Iranian authorities have confirmed 3,117 deaths, including 2,427 civilians and members of the country’s security forces, and accused Israel and the United States of fuelling the unrest.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said on Wednesday that at least 6,373 people have been killed since the demonstrations began, including 5,993 protesters.
Al Jazeera has been unable to independently verify these figures.
Reporting from Brussels, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said the bloc’s decision to blacklist the IRGC and to impose sanctions on Iranian officials aims to send “a strong political message” to Tehran.
“It was not an easy decision, particularly the one about the designation of the IRGC as a ‘terrorist organisation’,” Ahelbarra explained, noting that France, in particular, had hoped to maintain a channel of communication with Iran.
“But when they saw the clampdown on protesters taking place … the Europeans said, ‘No. We need to send a strong message’,” he said.
Iran slams EU’s ‘selective outrage’
Meanwhile, Iranian officials forcefully rejected the EU’s announcements, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accusing the bloc of “fanning the flames” amid soaring tensions in the region.
“Putting aside the blatant hypocrisy of its selective outrage – taking zero action in response to Israel’s Genocide in Gaza and yet rushing to ‘defend human rights’ in Iran – Europe’s PR stunt mainly seeks to cloak that it is an actor in severe decline,” Araghchi wrote on social media.
“Moreover, as the continent is certain to be massively impacted by an all-out war in our region – including the knock-on effects of surging energy prices – the EU’s current posture is deeply damaging to its own interests.”
That was echoed by the General Staff of the Iranian armed forces, which denounced the IRGC listing as “illogical and irresponsible” and said it marked “a clear sign of hostility towards the Iranian nation and the country’s independence”.
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from the Iranian capital Tehran, noted that the “unprecedented” escalation between Iran and the EU comes amid a US military build-up in the Middle East, which has raised concerns about a possible confrontation.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran in recent weeks, citing the protest crackdown as well as the Iranian nuclear programme.
On Wednesday, Trump warned that a “massive” US armada was heading towards Iran and would be willing to use “violence” to fulfil its mission if Tehran did not agree to nuclear talks with Washington.
Senior Iranian officials rejected Trump’s comments, saying they would not agree to negotiations while under threat and that the Iranian armed forces were ready to “immediately and powerfully” respond to any possible US attack.
The Trump administration joined Israel’s 12-day military assault against Iran in June of last year, striking three Iranian nuclear facilities in attacks that Trump previously said had “obliterated” the country’s nuclear programme.
