In an unprecedented action on January 18, the European Parliament adopted an amendment urging the European Union to put the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) on the list of terrorist organizations. This decision comes as the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising entered its fifth month, with people calling out the entire regime and calling for the establishment of a democratic country.
This amendment was adopted with an overwhelming majority of votes in favor as a part of a security resolution offered by some MEPs from the European Conservatives and Reformists group.
The amendment “Condemns the brutal crackdown by Iran, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on the demonstrations after the death of Mahsa Amini, following her violent arrest, abuse, and ill-treatment by Iran’s ‘morality police; calls for the EU and its Member States to include the IRGC on the EU’s terrorist list in the light of its terrorist activity, the repression of protesters and its supplying of drones to Russia.”
Ahmad Vahidi, the Iranian regime’s Interior Minister, expressed the regime’s anger and desperation by calling out what he considered the EU Parliament’s “Political and moral weakness.”
“There is no need to be concerned about the European Parliament designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization. The organization strongly carries on its duties,” he told the state-run Tasnim News Agency, an outlet linked to the IRGC Quds Force.
It is worth noting that in a debate on Tuesday night over a separate resolution in solidarity with Iran’s uprising and calling for proscribing the IRGC, the MEPs from various political stripes urged the EU Union to blacklist the IRGC and cut all ties with the ruling theocracy.
Debate at the EU parliament:
.@FZarzalejos: It is a cruel regime, and we know that there are serious restrictions that go beyond moral and political fears. The #IRGC is one of the regime's key pillars, and it must be put on the list of terrorist organizations. pic.twitter.com/RJGVmuy0qt— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) January 17, 2023
The Friends of Free Iran inter-parliamentary group issued a statement prior to Tuesday’s debate, highlighting that “cooperation and negotiation with the Iranian regime cannot be justified under any pretext. The European Union and its member states should blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity for its role in suppressing the people of Iran and its terrorist activities, recall their ambassadors from Iran, and close the regime’s embassies in the EU countries, expelling Tehran’s diplomats and agents.”
On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she supported proscribing the IRGC as a terrorist entity in response to the “trampling” of “fundamental human rights” in Iran.
“The reaction of the Iran regime is atrocious and horrible, and they are trampling over fundamental human rights,” she said on the sidelines of the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Iranian people’s bravery in continuing protests has indeed mobilized the entire world in favor of what many consider as Iran’s revolution in the making.
Source » ncr-iran