We have been calling for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to be placed on the EU terrorist list since 2022. Today, it has finally happened. Italy, Spain, and France have revoked their blocking positions in the Council, allowing the decision to be taken unanimously. This step is long overdue—especially in light of the current massacre in Iran, for which the IRGC bears responsibility.
However, this decision is not merely symbolic. It entails concrete legal consequences:
- Assets can be frozen
- Financial and material support becomes a criminal offence
- Law enforcement finally has a clear legal basis to act against networks, enablers, and profiteers
From now on, the same rules apply to the Revolutionary Guards as to Daesh or Hamas. Anyone who cooperates with them is committing a criminal offence in the EU.
What matters now is implementation. Member states must act decisively.
For the people in Iran — and for the Iranian diaspora in Europe — this is an important signal:
The era of impunity is coming to an end. Threats, intimidation and repression will no longer be tolerated. Those responsible must expect consequences.
My thoughts are with the many victims of the Revolutionary Guards. The people of Iran deserve freedom, security and dignity. Their oppressors must no longer find safe haven in Europe.
You can read more about this in my joint press release with the Greens/EFA Group. As Chair of the Delegation for Relations with the People of Iran, I have also given a press statement.
Media outlets reporting on the terrorist listing of the IRGC include Der Spiegel, RND, The Guardian, The National, EUObserver, La Croix, BBC News, and WDR.
