Iran to Put European Armies on Terror List
TEHRAN – Iran on Sunday warned the European Union it would take “reciprocal” measures after the European Parliament voted to list the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group.
“The parliament is working to place elements of European countries’ armies on the terrorist list” of the Islamic Republic, Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said on Twitter.
Members of the European Parliament voted on Wednesday to include the IRGC on the 27-nation bloc’s terror list. The vote is non-binding but comes with EU foreign ministers already due to discuss tightening sanctions on Iran next week.
Amir-Abdollahian and IRGC chief Major General Hussein Salami attended a closed-door parliament session on Sunday morning to discuss the European Parliament’s move.
“The European Parliament shot itself in the foot,” Iran’s top diplomat said, adding that the response would be “reciprocal”.
Later asked if Iran would consider withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or expel United Nations nuclear inspectors, Amir-Abdollahian said all options were on the table.
If European diplomats “who have no experience in diplomacy... do not correct their positions, every possibility is conceivable”, he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Iran has been a signatory to the NPT since 1970, the year it came into force. Its nuclear energy program was a target of West’s hostile policies toward the Islamic Republic until a deal was reached in 2015, providing Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activity.
But the deal has been hanging by a thread since 2018 when the United States unilaterally withdrew and reimposed biting sanctions, prompting Tehran to begin rolling back on its commitments.
Iran and world powers have been engaged in on-and-off talks to restore the deal, but discussions have been in deep freeze since last year.
Iran’s parliament speaker Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf also said on Sunday that the legislature would “retaliate immediately and decisively” if the EU upholds and ratifies the European Parliament’s vote.
Qalibaf, who is himself a former commander of the IRGC air force, added that parliament would “recognize the armies of the European countries... as terrorist groups”.
He said the latest resolution showed that European countries, under the influence of pro-Zionist lobby groups, have made miscalculations and taken a wrong path against their national interests.
The top Iranian lawmaker went on to say that Iranians consider the IRGC an integral part of their nation, which has protected their security and served people during tough times such as natural calamities and the COVID-19 pandemic.