The European Union has sanctioned several members and organizations associated with Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for human rights violations as it considers a decision to also add the group to the bloc’s terrorist list.
“The EU will continue to support the rights of Iranians in defense of their basic human rights,” Josep Borrell, the bloc’s chief diplomat, said after a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
Tehran cracked down on the demonstrations, including carrying out recent executions of protesters triggered by the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, who was detained by police after she was arrested for allegedly violating strict Islamic dress codes.
The new punitive measures, which took effect on Monday, target Abbas Nilfrushan, the IRGC’s deputy commander and commander of the unit tasked with suppressing the protests.
Ravin Academy, a cybersecurity firm with ties to the IRGC and Iran’s intelligence ministry, was also listed for its role in recruiting hackers to disrupt protesters’ communications.
Iranian Sports and Youth Minister Hamid Sajjadi has been targeted for his role in punishing Iranian athletes who spoke out against Iran’s crackdown. The EU said Sajjadi was personally involved in the regime’s punishment of Elnaz Rekabi, an Iranian mountaineer who competed in South Korea last year without a hijab, as required by Iran’s Islamic dress code. According to the EU, Rekaby was forced to apologize and her family home was reportedly demolished in December.
A total of 37 targets – 18 individuals and 19 entities – were affected by the asset freeze and the EU travel ban. This is the fourth round of EU sanctions since the protests began in September 2022. In total, 164 individuals and 31 organizations linked to human rights violations in Iran were targeted.
Ahead of the meeting, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock again called on the EU to list the IRGC as a bloc terrorist. Burbock said the ongoing “violent actions” in Iran mean the EU should “discuss legal options” for listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
Last week, the European Parliament also called for the group to be included in the vote. However, this step is legally complex. Borrell said the bloc first needs a court order in an EU member state that recognizes the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
There’s got to be condemnation first [by] court in one Member State,” Borrell said. Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s foreign minister, said it was necessary for “absolute impenetrability” from a legal standpoint. The inclusion of the IRGC on the bloc’s list of terrorists could be challenged in the EU’s judicial systems.
The IRGC is Iran’s elite armed forces. The unit, created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, is designed to prevent coups and protect the state ideology. He is coming under increasing criticism for his role in the heavy-handed crackdown on the recent unrest in Iran on behalf of the government.
“Repressions continue in Iran. The rights of Iranian men and women to demonstrate peacefully are not recognized and violations continue,” said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. The Tehran regime “is heading for a clash with its people” and is trying “to crush this movement of civil society with all its brutality,” added Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
