Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomed the “important and historic decision” by the European Union on Thursday to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organization.
“For years, and with even greater intensity in recent weeks, Israel has worked to achieve this outcome,” Sa’ar stated shortly after Euronews reported that Brussels had achieved the required unanimity.
I welcome the decision of the EU Foreign Ministers to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) January 29, 2026
This is an important and historic decision.
For years, and with even greater intensity in recent weeks, Israel has worked to achieve this outcome.
The number…
“The number one actor in spreading terror and undermining regional stability has now been called by its name,” Jerusalem’s top diplomat wrote, noting that listing the IRGC as a terror group “will thwart and criminalize their activities in Europe.”
The move will “deal a significant economic blow to an organization that controls a vast share of the Iranian regime’s economy, and it sends an important message to the brave men and women of Iran who are fighting for their freedom,” according to Sa’ar.
“The legitimacy of this murderous and oppressive regime has suffered a powerful blow today,” the statement concluded.
The decision was taken on Thursday afternoon during a meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, with formal adoption of the blacklisting expected in the coming days, Euronews reported.
The announcement came after France and Spain, both of whom had initially raised concerns about the proposal, changed their position on Wednesday. Belgium reportedly also moved towards approval.
“The IRGC is the engine of Iran’s global terror network,” Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress, said in a first response.
“Through its direct actions, which are now also being turned against its own people, and its backing of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and other proxies, it has exported violence, antisemitism and instability across the Middle East and into Europe,” Kantor stated.
“Today’s decision is a clear and necessary message that the European Union will no longer tolerate state-sponsored terrorism,” he added.
E.U. foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is also a vice president of the European Commission, told reporters ahead of the vote on Thursday that “if you act as a terrorist, you should also be treated as terrorists.”
The European move comes in the wake of the regime’s crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted on Dec. 28. The Islamic Republic has acknowledged that thousands of demonstrators have died, but rights groups and reports estimate the figure to be in the tens of thousands.
The Revolutionary Guard Corps is an ideological wing of the Islamic Republic that functions as the primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces.
It reportedly fired live ammunition at protesters after the Islamic regime escalated its efforts to curb the demonstrations, following an internet shutdown throughout Iran that went into effect earlier this month.
