Iran on Friday warned it may designate the armed forces of European Union member states as “terrorist organisations” after the bloc added Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its terror blacklist, escalating tensions between Tehran and Brussels.
In a post on X, senior Iranian official Ali Larijani said that under a resolution passed by Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, the armies of countries backing the EU’s move against the IRGC would themselves be treated as terrorist entities.
“The European Union is aware that, in accordance with the resolution of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the armed forces of countries that participated in the EU’s recent decision against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are considered terrorist organisations,” Larijani wrote, warning that European states would bear the consequences of the move.
The warning came a day after EU foreign ministers agreed to place the IRGC on the bloc’s list of terrorist organisations. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed the decision, calling it a “decisive step” and saying regimes responsible for killing thousands of their own people must be treated as terrorists.
The European Union said the listing, which applies across all 27 member states, is largely symbolic but places the IRGC on the same footing as groups such as al-Qaida, Hamas and the Islamic State. The decision follows months of nationwide protests in Iran over economic conditions and government policies. Activists say at least 6,479 people were killed in a violent crackdown by Iranian security forces.
The United States and Canada have previously designated the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the EU move as a “PR stunt” and warned of possible repercussions, including higher energy prices. “Several countries are currently working to prevent the outbreak of an all-out war in our region,” he wrote on X. “None of them are European.”
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