European Parliament votes on listing Iran's IRGC as terrorist

The European Parliament has been discussing a resolution to condemn the Islamic Republic’s human rights violations and its destabilizing activities, including the military support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, since Monday. 

Following the plenary session to debate the listing of the IRGC, the 700 members of the body will put to vote the resolution that would call for the designation of Iran’s Guards on Thursday.

However, the resolution seems to be bound for approval as an amendment that calls for the EU and its member states to include the IRGC on the EU’s terrorist list was approved with an overwhelming majority on Wednesday. 

Nearly 600 members out of the 638 who were attending the session voted to adopt a phrase that “calls for the EU and its Member States to include the IRGC on the EU's terrorist list in the light of its terrorist activity, the repression of protesters and its supplying of drones to Russia.” 

The amendment which was proposed by the European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR Group) has become part of the European Parliament report on the implementation of the common foreign and security policy.

The European Parliament cannot decide to designate the IRGC because the terrorists list is not a list decided by the Parliament itself but by the EU Council, comprised of ministers of each EU country. 

If the resolution garners enough support, it is then upon the national governments of the EU member states to make the final decision. The listing of the IRGC must have a unanimous vote by all 27 EU members in the EU Council.

The fear of listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization – similar to that the United states id in 2019 and on the agenda in the United Kingdom, seems to be a big concern for the regime -- prompting officials to threaten European countries over the consequences of such a move.

Hardliner Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Esmail Kowsari, himself a former IRGC commander, said Wednesday that Europe might not be able to withstand the consequences of such a move. “EU officials know that this conspiracy was designed upon the instigation of the US and the Zionist regime (Israel) and has no logic,” he claimed.

Also on Wednesday, Mahmoud Nabavian, a cleric and a hardliner politician representing a constituency near Tehran at the parliament, said the European Union wants to be in line with the United States, and impose additional sanctions against the IRGC. He added that “Nowhere in the world is it customary to sanction the military force of a country,” slamming former US President Donald Trump for creating such a precedent.