EU foreign ministers have agreed to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, after years of pressure from within and outside the bloc to blacklist the elite force.
France, which was the last country in the 27-member bloc to oppose the move, shifted its position on January 28, paving the way for the designation.
The United States, Canada, and Australia have already designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Within the EU, Germany and the Netherlands have long urged the bloc to follow suit, arguing that the group's involvement in repression at home and destabilizing activities abroad warrants such a step.
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Glimpses Of Iran's Brutal Crackdown Trickle Out Despite Internet Blackout
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi condemned the move, calling it a "major strategic mistake," and accused European countries of pushing the region toward a large-scale conflict.
He added that while "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."
The IRGC is the most powerful branch of Iran's armed forces, operating independently of the regular military and answering directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 to safeguard the Islamic revolution, it has since evolved into a multi-service force with its own ground forces, navy, air force, intelligence units, and special forces.
The IRGC controls the Basij paramilitary force and the Quds Force, its foreign operations branch accused of supporting militant groups across the Middle East. With upward of 180,000 troops under its command, the force plays a central role in Iran's internal security, border control, and missile programs. It also wields significant economic power through control of key industries and infrastructure.
Deadly Crackdown
The decision on January 29 came after Iran's deadly crackdown on recent antiestablishment protests that engulfed the country, posing one of the gravest challenges to the Islamic republic.
The US-based rights group HRANA has verified 6,373 deaths with over 17,000 cases still under review. Some estimates put the death toll in the tens of thousands.
"The scale of killing inside Iran really did cross a threshold," said Ellie Geranmayeh, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
She told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that the move is largely symbolic, as EU-Iran trade has already collapsed following last September's snapback of UN sanctions. "Economically, this move will have a very nominal impact at this current stage," Geranmayeh said. "Iran is already under vast scopes of sanctions."
SEE ALSO: Interview: To Help Countries Like Iran, We Need To Scale Up StarlinkBut she added that the designation "sends a punitive signal to Tehran in response to the horrific and unprecedented killings of Iranians."
The IRGC and its senior officials have long been under EU sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans. The designation's main effect is that it allows member states to detain any IRGC member that enters the EU.
Geranmayeh cautioned that the designation is "unlikely to have any real impact on how Iranian leaders sitting in Tehran calculate their next moves toward whether they go into military conflict with the US or make a deal with Trump."
She noted that if a future sanctions-relief deal emerges between Washington and Tehran, "Iran is probably going to push the United States at some point to lift the American terror designation of the IRGC. And if the US decides to make such a move, the EU is going to have to assess its own position and decide whether it does the same."
To "practically help Iranians on the ground," Geranmayeh said, the bloc needs to "significantly boost funding into things like tech services that are going to be able to help Iran boost their Internet connection and retain it in case there is future blackouts."