Helena Dalli addressed the European Parliament on ”state sponsored terrorism by the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of the recent attacks in Europe”
Will the EU soon list the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization?
‘’European Union relations with Iran are at their lowest point,’’ noted European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli in a speech to the European Parliament plenary session in Strabourg on Tuesday.
‘’Iran’s negative behaviour is evident on several fronts. Iran continues to support Russia in its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, through the provision of weapons, such as drones and, more recently, missiles. The human rights situation in Iran remains dire. Iran’s role in the region and its support to several armed groups contributes to instability, while the spiral of attacks and retaliations with Israel risks causing a wider regional conflict. Iran’s nuclear programme continues its dangerous expansion,’’ she said in her address on behalf of EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.
She also stressed that there is a growing concern about Iranian ‘’hybrid threats’’ on European soil, mentioning eecredible reports about the role of Iranian state bodies in planning and aiding recent attacks in a number of Member States, about threats to members of the Iranian diaspora in Europe, and about cyber actions, or influence campaigns trying to create divisions in our societies.’’
The European Union, she daid, ‘’has always shown zero tolerance towards such unacceptable actions, to which we have responded, including with targeted actions.’’
The Commissioner recalled that the EU ‘’has put in place sanctions regimes to target all aspects of Iran’s negative behaviour, and we will continue to use them whenever appropriate.’’
While the EU has already listed individuals and entities of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) under the Iran human rights sanctions regime, the territorial integrity of Ukraine sanctions regime, the Syria sanctions regime, as well as the Iran weapons of mass destruction sanctions regime, it has not yet listed the IRGC as a terrorist organization despite the request to do so issued by the European Parliament earlier this year.
The Commissioner explained that the prerequisite for such a listing is a national decision by a competent national authority (such as a court decision, for instance) for acts that fall under the definition of terrorist acts under the EU sanctions regime.
Two weeks ago, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called on the EU to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization following reports that Tehran had enlisted criminals to carry out armed attacks on Israeli embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen.
“We want Sweden to seriously address with the other EU countries the incredibly problematic connection between the IRGC, their destructive role in the region, but also their escalating actions around various European countries, of which Sweden is one of them,” said Kristersson.
In late June, the German Press Agency (DPA) quoted diplomats as saying that “multiple EU countries including Germany are pushing to classify the IRGC as a terrorist organization on the basis of a German court ruling.”
The German legal ruling earlier this year is from the High Court in the city of Düsseldorf, stating that a 2022 attack on a synagogue in the city of Bochum was traced to the “Iranian state authorities.”
A senior EU official told the Wall Street Journal this month that the European Union’s legal services have said the Dusseldorf decision is grounds enough for a potential IRGC terror listing and that the decision on this is now a political one.
According to Commissioner Dalli, the European Council is set to take soon a decision by unanimity on listing IRGC as a terrorist group.