European Parliament calls for listing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist entity

BERLIN (AA) - The European Parliament urged the European Union on Thursday to place Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on its terrorist list, according to the website of the Strasbourg-based legislative body.

In a nonbinding resolution, EU parliamentarians managed to get a large majority to urge the EU’s 27 member states to take such a punitive move.

The resolution said the Iranian regime’s blatant disregard for human dignity and the democratic aspirations of its own citizens as well as its support to Russia “necessitate further adjustments in the EU’s position towards Iran.”

“All those responsible for human rights violations should face EU sanctions, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps should be on the EU terrorist list,” the members of the European Parliament (MEPs) urged.

They also called on the EU and its member states to add the IRGC’s subsidiary forces, including the paramilitary Basij militia and the Quds Force, to the EU terrorist list.

Any country in which the IRGC deploys military, economic or informational operations should sever and outlaw ties with this organization, the resolution said.

The MEPs also urged the EU to expand its sanctions list to cover all individuals and entities responsible for human rights violations and their family members, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri and all foundations linked to the IRCG.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament condemned "in the strongest terms the death sentences against and executions of peaceful protesters in Iran and called on the Iranian authorities to end the crackdown on their own citizens."

The MEPs urged the authorities of the Iranian regime "to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all protesters sentenced to death.”

They also “condemn the fact that criminal proceedings and the death penalty have been weaponized by the regime to stamp out dissent and to punish people for exercising their basic rights."

"Those responsible for the killing of hundreds of protesters must be brought to justice," they added.

The resolution also called for “the expansion of restrictive measures” against Iran as it continues to provide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and plans to provide surface-to-surface missiles to Russia.

Finally, the MEPs expressed “deep concern over the structural transnational repression carried out by the authorities of the Islamic Republic, which includes espionage and assassinations, against the Iranian diaspora living in the EU.”

They called on the EU and the member states “to protect those affected more robustly against such repression.”

The European Parliament’s resolution comes ahead of Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, where additional sanctions against Tehran are expected to be adopted.