The European Union on Thursday agreed to designate Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, citing Tehran’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said foreign ministers from the 27-member bloc unanimously backed the move, which she described as placing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard “on the same footing” as groups such as al Qaeda, Hamas and Islamic State.
“Those who operate through terror must be treated as terrorists,” Kallas said.
Protests erupted in Iran amid economic hardship and later widened into a broader challenge to the country’s clerical leadership. Rights groups say at least 6,400 people have been killed in the crackdown, making it one of the deadliest episodes of unrest in Iran in decades.
“Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise,” Kallas added.
The designation is largely symbolic but increases political pressure on Iran. The United States and Canada have already listed the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the EU move as a “public relations stunt,” warning on X that Europe would suffer if energy prices rise as a result of further sanctions.
“The designation of a state military arm is one step short of cutting diplomatic ties,” said Kristina Kausch, deputy director at the German Marshall Fund, calling the decision a signal that EU dialogue with Tehran had failed.
The Revolutionary Guard has the right to comment before the listing is formally adopted, according to legal experts.
The EU also imposed sanctions on 15 Iranian officials and six organisations, including bodies involved in monitoring online content, as authorities maintained a weeks-long internet blackout during the protests. The measures include asset freezes and travel bans.
The Guard, which emerged from Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and later expanded into key sectors of the economy, holds extensive business interests at home and abroad, potentially exposing assets in Europe to seizure.
Tensions have also risen in the Gulf. Iran warned shipping this week that it plans to conduct live-fire naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which about 20% of global oil supplies pass.
The EU move comes amid heightened pressure from United States, where President Donald Trump has warned of possible military action and ordered the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the region.
Iran faces heavy sanctions from Western countries, including the United States and Britain, as international concern grows over its human rights record and regional military posture.