Rome, Italy – Italy is working to ignite one of the most sensitive issues within the European Union by pushing for the designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
This comes at a time of increasing political and human rights pressure on Brussels to take a tougher stance toward Tehran, after years of hesitation and complex calculations.
The Italian move follows recent developments concerning the losses suffered by the Iranian people
during the waves of protests, which Rome believes warrant a “clear response” from the European Union.
In this context, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced his intention to submit
a formal proposal to include the IRGC, also known as the Pasdaran, on the list of terrorist organizations.
Tajani wrote in a post on the X platform that “the losses suffered by the Iranian people
during the recent protests demand a clear response from the European Union,”
emphasizing that he will raise this issue at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting next Thursday.
He added, “I will propose, in coordination with other partners, that the Revolutionary Guard be designated a terrorist organization
and that individual sanctions be imposed on those responsible for these heinous acts.”
The Italian move comes amid divisions within the European Union regarding how to deal with Iran.
Several European countries have previously expressed support for tightening sanctions on Tehran,
while others have warned of the legal and political repercussions of designating the Revolutionary Guard
as a terrorist organization, especially given the unresolved issues surrounding the nuclear agreement and diplomatic relations.
Observers believe the Italian initiative could reopen the European debate on policy toward Iran, presenting Brussels with a new test:
balancing human rights considerations and political pressure on one hand, and diplomatic and security calculations on the other.
