Iran classifies the armies of European Union countries as “terrorist organizations”

On Saturday, Iran designated the naval and air forces of all European Union member states as terrorist organizations. The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by Mehr News Agency that Tehran will take measures in response to the “illegal and unjustified” decision of European Union countries to classify the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

The statement, issued in response to the February 19 European Union resolution, said: “Since European governments have designated the Revolutionary Guards – one of the official branches of the Iranian Armed Forces – as a terrorist organization, Iran will take measures based on the principle of reciprocity.”

Based on Article 7 of the “Retaliatory Measures Against the United States Declaration of the Revolutionary Guard as a Terrorist Organization” law issued in 2019, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that “all countries that submit or support in any way the decision of the United States of America in this regard will be subject to similar measures by Iran.”

According to this statement, within the framework of this law, and based on its provisions, including Article 4, Iran considers the naval and air forces of all European Union Member States to be subject to the provisions of this law, and designates and declares them as terrorist organizations.

At the conclusion of its statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that this measure was taken within the framework of Iran’s domestic law, in response to “the blatant violation of the principles of international law by European governments.”

The Revolutionary Guard was established after the 1979 revolution to protect the ruling regime, and enjoys great influence in Iran, as it controls large sectors of the economy and the armed forces.

The European Union’s foreign policy official, Kaya Kallas, said earlier in January that the foreign ministers of the EU countries had agreed to include the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on the list of terrorist organizations, considering that the decision represents a decisive step in confronting the practices of the Iranian regime.

Callas added, in a post on the “X” platform, that “any regime that kills thousands of its people is moving toward its departure.”

This decision came after years of European hesitation to take a similar step, despite repeated demands from European member states and parliamentarians, and mounting political pressure against the backdrop of the suppression of protests inside Iran, and the regional role of the Revolutionary Guard, in addition to accusations of supporting armed groups and threatening the security and stability of the region.