Iranian Military: EU’s Listing Of IRGC As Terror Entity Would “Affect Peace”

The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces has warned the European Union against listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity, saying the move would “affect regional and global security, calm and peace."

"The European Parliament should be cautious about [their decision's] consequences," the military said in a statement on January 19, a day after European lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to call on the European Union to include the IRGC and its affiliates, including the paramilitary Basij militia and the expeditionary Quds Force, on the bloc's terrorist list.

The MEPs blamed the Islamic Republic for the “brutal” repression of the ongoing nationwide protests and the supply of Iranian drones to Russia’s military engaged in Ukraine.

Iranian security forces have killed more than 500 people, including dozens of children, and detained over 18,000 in their crackdown on four months of anti-government demonstrations, human rights activists say.

The EU has imposed three rounds of sanctions against the Islamic Republic over the clampdown on the protest movement and its supply of drones to Russia.

The IRGC controls large swathes of Iran’s economy and armed forces and is in charge of the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

The EU has already listed the IRGC’s Aerospace Force as a terrorist entity for its role in supplying Iranian drones to Russia.