The House of Representatives wants to place the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRG) on the EU list of terrorist organizations. A large majority in parliament supported a motion on Thursday to that end. Earlier this month, the EU already came up with a sanctions package aimed at the IRGC because of “the executions and violence against innocent people”. The German government and the EU have already announced that they are considering putting the IRGC on the terror list. The US government has already done this in 2019.
The powerful elite military corps, estimated to number more than 200,000 fighters, has played a major role in violently suppressing recent civilian protests, the motion’s proponents argue. In addition, companies affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards supply drones to Russia that are used in the war with Ukraine.
The demonstrations against the Iranian regime have been going on for months. The starting point was the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September, after a heavy-handed arrest by the Iranian vice squad. According to the human rights organization Iran Human Rights, more than 400 people have since been killed by violence by Iranian authorities.
The Revolutionary Guards, established immediately after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, has great power and influence in Iran. The guard consists of a professional army – army, navy and air force – and a so-called basij, a paramilitary volunteer corps of mainly poorer young men from conservative backgrounds. It is under the direct authority of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the country.
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