European Union Adds Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to Its Terror List

Europeans have seen enough to finally agree on a designation as terrorists of the murderous oppressors of Iranian protesters. Is the European Union also signaling to President Trump that they would tacitly approve a military strike on Islamic Republic assets?The EU agreement to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization was made possible after the group’s most resistant holdouts relented. In the last few days, Italy, France, and Spain removed their traditional opposition to tag Iran’s most prized military force as terrorists.The new designation would put the IRGC “on the same footing with al Qaeda, Hamas, and Daesh,” the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, told reporters at Brussels Thursday. “If you act as a terrorist, you should also be treated as terrorists.”America, Australia, and Canada already tag the IRGC as terrorists. Britain, whose Prime Minister Keir Starmer is visiting Beijing, is yet to join them. “There can be no impunity for the crimes committed” by the Islamic Republic, France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said Thursday. Previously, Paris objected to sanctioning the IRGC and other Tehran entities, arguing it would harm diplomatic efforts to release hostages in Iran. French companies have also solicited business in Iran. Advocacy groups have long urged the EU to add the IRGC to its list of terrorist organizations. “Via the Revolutionary Guards, the Ayatollah’s regime commits terrorist attacks and funds other terrorist organizations and proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, with the blood of Americans, Europeans, and countless others on their hands,” one such group, United Against Nuclear Iran, said in a statement Thursday. Applauding the EU’s new step, UANI writes that “today’s step will make it much harder for the Guards to operate in Europe, where they have not only carried out attacks but also intimidated and harassed members of the Iranian diaspora.”Designating the IRGC and sanctioning other Islamic Republic entities blocks their access to European markets. It also deters other bodies from doing business with them. Yet, today’s decision is unclear about whether the designated terrorists can be targeted militarily. When America designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization in 2019, it also specified that its revolution-exporting arm, the Quds force, be included in the designation. President Trump then ordered the killing of the Quds force chief, Qassem Soleimani, who was struck by a drone a year later. The United States Ship Abraham Lincoln and its strike group is now stationed near Iranian shores. A number of fighter jets were flown to Jordan and other Mideast spots recently, while missile defense batteries were installed around targets the Islamic Republic might hit in retaliation for American strikes.“We will be prepared to deliver whatever this president expects of the War Department,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday during a cabinet meeting at the White House.The Israel Defense Force intelligence chief, Major General Shlomi Binder, and Mossad director David Barnea flew to Washington this week to share intel with American counterparts on possible Iranian targets. Those likely include sites where the IRGC and its volunteer internal enforcers, the Basij, are headquarters. At the least, Thursday’s decision at Brussels could make it difficult for Europeans to denounce Mr. Trump if he decides to target entities that the EU has just designated as terrorists.

European Union Adds Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to Its Terror List

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