Growing numbers of Western nations are joining calls to ban Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which trains its terrorist proxies and carries out attacks around the world.
Iran’s providing kamikaze drones to Russia to use against Ukraine has been a tailwind for recent efforts to proscribe the group, something Israel has long pushed the world community to do.
This month alone, legislators in Ukraine, Canada and Italy called to declare the IRGC a terrorist group, and earlier this year, Lithuania and the European Parliament did the same.
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen congratulated the parliaments for promoting a terrorism designation for the IRGC. “This is further evidence of the message that we at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are working to promote, that above all else, Iran is the No. 1 exporter of terrorism in the world,” Cohen said.
“It is important that this is also reflected in the outlawing of the ayatollahs’ regime’s terrorist proxies. We are sure that other parliaments will follow in the footsteps of those who started making these moves.”
Members of a special IRGC force attend a rally marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in Tehran, Iran, April 29, 2022. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)In early June, dozens of members of Ukraine’s parliament sponsored a bill calling for the IRGC to be designated a terrorist group.
Canada’s Senate passed a nonbinding motion to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization, proposed by Senator Ratna Omidvar.
The IRGC “has been deployed more than 90 times against a civilian population,” said Omidvar, who lived in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. “Iran and the IRGC fund and support Hamas and Hezbollah, creating significant regional instability.”
Canada previously designated the Quds Force, the arm of the IRGC that works outside of Iranian territory, as a terrorist group.
Over 300 members of Italy’s parliament have signed a declaration calling to declare the IRGC a terrorist organization. The 307 MPs, out of 600 legislators in both chambers of parliament, called “to support the Iranian people in their efforts to change the grave situation in Iran and to take decisive steps against the current regime.”
In addition, they called to close Iranian embassies involved in supporting terrorist activities.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said at the American Jewish Conference’s Global Forum in Tel Aviv this month that the IRGC’s support for terrorism should be countered by “expanding the use of all instruments in the EU toolbox.”
In March, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said she would support Israel’s effort to have the EU blacklist the IRGC.
European Parliament calls for IRGC to be designated as terrorist group
In addition, in January, the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution calling on Brussels to designate the IRGC and condemning Iran for killing protesters.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell has argued that a court ruling is needed to declare the IRGC a terrorist group. One of the arguments against doing so is that the IRGC is like the military of Iran and one cannot designate the armed forces of a sovereign country.
However, a group of French-Iranian lawyers, backed by Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah of Iran, produced a position paper this month arguing that there are no such legal obstacles.
“Based on this report, already shared with multiple European governments, I invite the European authorities to reconsider their current position,” Pahlavi tweeted. “Listing this entity, which is dedicated not to protecting Iran or Iranians but instead the power of the dictatorship, would be a strong and long-awaited recognition of reality and a show of support to my compatriots who are fighting for freedom and democracy in our country.”
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