The European Union is expected to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization later on Thursday.
The E.U.’s foreign ministers are set to approve the measure in a Brussels meeting, AFP reported.
E.U. foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is also a vice president of the European Commission, told reporters ahead the vote that “if you act as a terrorist, you should also be treated as terrorists.”
The 27-nation bloc is also expected to approve visa bans and asset freezes on 21 state entities and Iranian officials, including Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, AFP added.
The expected European moves come in the wake of Tehran’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 various reports estimate the figure to be in the tens of thousands.
The IRGC is an ideological wing of the Islamic Republic that functions as the primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces.
It fired live ammunition at protesters after the regime escalated its efforts to curb the demonstrations, following an internet shutdown throughout the country on the night of Jan. 8.
With connectivity now being cautiously restored to select business sectors and government-approved users, brief windows of access have allowed thousands of files—videos, photographs, medical records and testimonies—to reach observers outside Iran.
According to analysts and human-rights monitors, the material documents a coordinated, military-style suppression of protests on Jan. 8–9 that included the use of heavy weaponry in civilian areas, sniper fire, mass detentions, enforced disappearances and widespread efforts to conceal the scale of casualties.
Tensions in the Middle East have soared in recent days, with the U.S. military bolstering its forces in the region ahead of a possible attack on Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that “a massive armada” is making its way to the region and advised it to negotiate a settlement on its nuclear program as time was running out.
“A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela. Like with Venezuela, it is ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” Trump posted.
